The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1852-04-27 00:00:00

GREAT SALE OF PICTURES.

On Tuesday last, the sale of pictures commenced at

Ash House, near Broad Green, late the residence of
John Clow, Esq. The good taste of this gentleman,
and his long connexion with art, had enabled him to
bring together a collection of great value and interest ;
and during the days that they were on view, a large
number of ladies and gentlemen visited and inspected
them. They formed a sort of Exhibition of themselves,
and it is a pity that they have been scattered. The whole
collection would have formed the centre of a splendid
gallery of art, in connexion with the Town Library and
Museum ; and it is not unlikely that several of them may
yet find their way into that collection.

On Tuesday 39 pictures were sold. which realised the
sum of £3456 9s. 6d., or an average of nearly £B9. The
cheapest were—" Cattle Reposing," by John Wilson,
jun., which realised £8; a " Landscape," by Maceulloch,
£6 ; and a " Female Head," by J. G. Gilbert, £4. The
dearest were—" View in Venice," by Stanfield, 107 gs. ;
" Hunt the Slipper," by Maclise, 662g5. ; " Fitting out
Moses for tho Fair," by Maclise, 400g5.: and " Happy
as a King," by Collins, 425g5. The only incident of any
interest was the fact that Herbert, the painter of " The
Outcast," appears to have painted several copies. One
" original " is in the possession of Mr. A. Shand, from
whom the painter borrowed it; and another was sold
here for 64gs. Mr. Herbert's brother defended the
painter by saying that the latter was commenced first,
and also that the purchaser did not purchase the copy.
right with the picture. It is possible that it may be
legal for a painter to complete any number of cordes of
a work of art, and call them all original, but it is morally
wrong ; and the defence about copyright is similar to
that of the casuist, who sold a tent under a burning sky,
but alleged that he never intended to sell the shadow
of it !

On Wednesday 48 more were sold, realising £5297 15s.
6d., or an average of more than .£llO. The " Duke of
Argyle's Fishing Cottage, Loch Fyne," by Macculloch
" Meditation," and " Interior of a Cottage," by George
Jones, R.A., all brought less than £lO. " View on the
Thames," by P. Nasmyth ; " The Alhambra," by D.
Roberts ; " Anticipation," by Webster; and " The Rent
Day," by Sir D. Wilkie, brought nearly £2OO each.
Harvey's " First Reading of the Bible in the Crypt of
Old St. Paul's" brought 35Ogs. ; " Rhodes," by Muller,
the same sum ; " The Past and the Present," by Harvey,
the same ; and the " Wise and Foolish Builders," by
Harvey, 205 gs. The chief sale of the day was " The
Dance," by Etty, from the shield of Achilles, which was
purchased by Mr. Alexander Denniston, of Glasgow, for
1100 gs. The " Blacksmith's Shop," by Creswick, which
brought 160g5., reminded us of Longfellow's lines—
" Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
For the lesson thou halt taught !
Thus at the flaming forge of life
Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
Each burning deed and thoughtl"

On Thursday the water-colour drawings were disposed
of in 51 lots, all appropriately framed, and covered with
plate glass. The sale closed by half-past two o'clock.