Christopher Tombs Ltd

Description

17th Century Oil of Dogs stealing food from basket

Frans Snyders, Snyders also spelled Snijders, (baptized November 11, 1579, Antwerp, Spanish Netherlands [now in Belgium]—died August 19, 1657, Antwerp), Baroque artist who was the most-noted 17th-century painter of animals. His subjects included still lifes of markets and pantries (featuring both live animals and dead game), animals in combat, and hunting scenes. A highly skilled painter who was celebrated for his ability to capture the textures of and play of light on feathers and fur, Snyders was part of a large and friendly group of artists who helped transform Antwerp from a city of commerce and finance to a vibrant centre for the arts.

A collaborator with Rubens and Jordaens, the Antwerp artist Frans Snyders was one of the first great still life painters. He often included animals in his still lifes, and this lively depiction of a hound and a terrier stealing a pig's trotter from a heaped basket is no exception: the composition must have been a favourite with Snyders's buyers, as three other versions and a copy are known to exist.

A further example exists in the Maidstone Museum and Bentlif Art Gallery.

John C. Nairn 1869-1900, John C. Nairn & Sons 1901-1910, John C. Nairn & Son 1911-1931. At 8 Hamilton Row, Dublin 1869-1873, 51 Denzille St, Merrion Square 1874-1914 (also at no.52 by 1884), 13 Westland Row by 1910-1931. Picture restorers, by c.1884 also agents for artists.

John Campbell Nairn (1831-1913), a leading Dublin picture restorer, was the son of George Nairn (1799-1850), animal and portrait painter, and his wife Celia Campbell (1791-1857), also an artist. By his first marriage, to Ellen Carr, John Campbell Nairn had several children, including George Ivor Nairn, who trained as a painter before joining the British Army. These and the following biographical details come from a family tree supplied by George Nairn, George Ivor Nairn’s grandson, following publicity in 1995 concerning a time capsule found at the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford (see below). By his second marriage, to his housekeeper, Johanne Byrne, John Campbell Nairn had further children, apparently including Robert Nairn, who was active in his father’s business as a picture restorer (see below).

John C. Nairn & Son’s trade card described the business as picture cleaners and restorers (to the National Gallery, Dublin, added in manuscript) and claimed forty years practical experience. The business gave 3 Duck Lane, Soho, the premises of the picture liners, William Morrill & Son (qv), as its London address, and Garfield Chambers, 42 Royal Avenue as its Belfast address. It offered to line pictures, to transfer them from the original panel or canvas to new canvas and to clean and restore old engravings and mezzotints. For a partial list of clients, see below.

Following John C. Nairn’s death in 1913, it was advertised that the business, ‘John C. Nairn & Son’, would be continued by his son William Joseph Nairn (b.1880) at 13 Westland Row but not at 51-52 Denzille St (Freemans Journal 4 February 1914).

Restoration work: John C. Nairn & Son cleaned and restored portraits in the Mansion House and the City Hall, Dublin, in 1897 (Belfast News-Letter 8 March 1897). John C. Nairn & Son’s undated trade card (see above) listed as clients the Marquis of Downshire, Hillsborough Castle Lord Arthur W. Hill, MP, London Earl Kilmorey, Mourne Park, Newry Lord O’Neill, Shane’s Castle, Antrim Earl of Gosford, Gosford Castle, Markethill Sir James Haslett, MP, Belfast Sir Samuel Black, Glen Ebor, Strandtown The President, Queen’s College, Belfast Major H.S. M’Clintock, Kilwarlin House, Hillsborough Sir Thomas Farrell, PRHA and the secretary and the keeper of the Royal Hibernian Academy, and several others.

It is now housed in a good quality frame.

We welcome all enquiries on this particular item which has been lightly cleaned and re varnished

Measurements are: 127cm wide, 94cm high 9cm deep