Lot: 176
(British, 18601929)
Portrait of Queen Victoria
oil on canvas
canvas: 29.75 x 24.5 inches, framed:
signed and inscribed Florence and dated 1893
Provenance: Property from the Collection of Kenneth Fugate and Carroll Heath, San Francisco, California, by familial descent to current owner.
In 1883, the Irish artist, Henry Jones Thaddeus arrived in Florence. According to Brendan Rooney, (Thaddeus, Dublin, 2003) Thaddeus was introduced to the Duke in the autumn of that year and a great friendship was formed, thereby giving Thaddeus complete to his family. Portraits of the Duke and the Duchess were commissioned and these appeared at the Royal Academy, London, in 1884. In the following year, he painted a formal portrait of Princess May and when the Tecks went to Switzerland, he was also invited, and at Bodensee, he painted a second portrait of the Princess. Both paintings remain untraced although one of them was exhibited at the Irish Exhibition, Olympia, 1888, number 74.
Auction Date: January 23, 2021