Lot 10: William Shakespeare Burton (1824-1916)

William Shakespeare Burton (1824-1916)
Sleep
signed, inscribed and dated 'W S Burton London Jan 11. 1866' (on the reverse)
oil on board
8¾ x 7¼ in. (22.2 x 18.4 cm.)

Springfield, 1988, no. 56.

Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, Belgravia, 23 November 1982, lot 93.

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 17.5% on the buyer's premium.
Burton was an historical painter who is best known for The Wounded Cavalier (Guildhall Art Gallery, London) which had a sensational entry to the Royal Academy exhibition in 1856. Dogged by ill-health and lack of recognition, Burton practically abandoned painting during the 1880s and 1890s, but was persuaded to take it up again around 1900. The present watercolour was painted in the same month as The Love Letter, which was sold in these Rooms as part of the Forbes Collection, 20 February 2003, lot 260. It is possible that the present watercolour, set in its charming and intimate domestic setting depicts Burton himself with his new wife (he remarried in 1865): there is certainly a strong resemblance between the figure seated at the table and the self-portrait of a much older Burton in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.