Lot 174
[Wolfe, James] Original Sketch of General Wolfe Attributed to Capt. Hervey Smith, His Aide-de-Camp at Quebec. Profile head and bust of General James Wolfe, in pencil, 8¼ x 6" (Quebec, 1759). Matted and framed to an overall size of 16 x 12¾". The provenance is written on the back of the portrait (covered by the frame, which can be easily removed): "This sketch belonged to Lt. Coln. Gwillim, A.D. Camp to Genl. Wolfe when he was killed -- It is supposed to have been sketched by Hervey Smith!" It continues in pencil in another hand, "This profile of General Wolfe from which his bust was principally taken was hastily sketched by Hervey Smith, on(e) of his Aid de camps, a very short time before that distinguished oficer was killed on the Plains of Abram [sic] it then came into the possession of Colonel Gwillian another of the General's Aid de Camps, who died afterwards at Gibralter; and from him to Mrs. Sinclair, the Colonel's only daughter and heiress then to Major General Darling (who was on General Sinclair's Staff;) and is now presented by him to His Grace the Duke of Northumberland, Alnwick 13 Jny 1832." In still another hand is the statement that the Duke of Northumberland presented it to the Royal United Service Institution, Whitehall.
Captain Hervey Smith (1835-1811) was an officer and a topographical painter who had participated in the campaign against Louisbourg in 1758. He was appointed one of General Wolfe's aides-de-camp for the campaign against Quebec on May 4, 1759. Smith was severely wounded during the Battle of the Plains of Abraham and returned to England to recover.
This sketch is referred to in a 1925 article entitled "A Study of the Portraiture of James Wolfe," by J. Clarence Webster, a Canadian physician and historian. He says, in part: "Best known of all the sketches [of Wolfe] are those made by an aide-de-camp of Wolfe at Quebec, Capt. Hervey Smith….His profile head and bust of Wolfe [is] now in the Museum of the Royal United Service Institution….It is a pencil drawing, somewhat rubbed and damaged, especially near the nose and mouth."
In 1974, the late Dr. George A. Snook, a physician and military historian, wrote to The Parker Gallery in London, detailing his research on the sketch, which he had purchased from the Gallery in 1970. He referenced Webster's article and other research and inquired if his sketch might be the one referred to in Dr. Webster's article. The Parker Gallery replied to Dr. Snook, assuring him that the sketch was, in fact, the sketch from the Royal United Service Institution, purchased by the Parker Gallery when the Museum closed (around 1960).
A copy of Dr. Webster's article, which was published in Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, Vol. XIX, pp 47-67, is included with the sketch. Also included is a copy of Dr. Snook's letter to the Parker Gallery and the Gallery's response. Estimate Value $10,000 - UP
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| Realized $17,400 |
