artwork around the manor - gpra.org.uk around the manor.pdf · she was the daughter of...

Artwork around the Manor

As you walk around the Manor you may wonder about the variouspieces of art; is there a relationship with the history of the Manor or

its leaseholders? Who were the artists and what are the storiesbehind them?

To answer the first question; I am afraid to say that there is norelationship between the paintings and the history of the Manor,other than the fact that they were all bought as a job-lot by theManagement of Life Care Residences when Grove Place was

established as Grove Place Retirement Village in 2008/9.This brochure describes as far as possible the subject/s of the

paintings and the artists.

Researched and compiled by Fred Tickle 2019


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H.R.H. Princess Andrea of Greece, née PrincessAlice of Battenberg – Prince Philip’s Mother.The original is in Prince Philip’s study inBuckingham Palace.

Early LifeShe was born Princess Alice of Battenberg in 1885at Windsor Castle, a great-granddaughter ofQueen Victoria, and raised as an English princess,although both her parents were German.Her three younger siblings, Louise, George,and Louis, later became Queen of Sweden, 2ndMarquess of Milford Haven, and EarlMountbatten of Burma, respectively.

Marriage and Family

She adopted the style of her husband, becoming"Princess Andrea". The bride and groom wereclosely related to the ruling houses of the UnitedKingdo

Princess Margarita, Princess Theodora, PrincessCecilie, Princess Sophie and

10 June 1921), whomarrie

Illness

By 1930 She was diagnosed as schizophrenic, andshe was admitted to a Swiss sanatorium. On theday she left, the nine-year-old Prince Philip wastaken out by his grandmother for a picnic. Whenhe returned, his mother had gone. ‘It was literallya car and men in white coats, coming to take heraway,’ She remained a prisoner there for two anda half years. ‘It was rather hushed up,’ explainsAlice’s niece Countess Mountbatten, ‘I think myaunt would have suffered very much.’ When Alicewas eventually released from the sanatorium in1932, she became a lonely drifter, staying inmodest German B&Bs.

After the war (WW2), diamonds from Alice’s tiarawere reset so Philip had an engagement ring topresent to Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen.Alice sold the rest of her jewels to found her ownreligious order, the Christian Sisterhood OfMartha And Mary, in 1949 and built a convent and

Portrait in the Lounge

HRH Princess Alice by Philip Alexius deLászló in 1907


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orphanage in a poor suburb of Athens. CountessMountbatten says, ‘I remember my grandmother(Alice’s mother) saying, “Whoever heard of anabbess who smoked and played canasta?”’

The Queen gave her mother-in-law a room inBuckingham Palace. Prince Philip’s biographerGyles Brandreth says, ‘They say you could alwaystell when she was coming along the corridorbecause of the whiff of Woodbines in the air. Theidea of the Duke of Edinburgh’s mum, dressed asa nun, sucking on her Woodbine… it’s wonderful!’

Death and burialDespite suggestions of senility in later life, PrincessAndrea remained lucid but physically frail. Shedied at Buckingham Palace on 5 December 1969.

She left no possessions, having given everythingaway. Initially her remains were placed in theRoyal Crypt in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle,but before she died she had expressed her wishto be buried at the Convent of Saint MaryMagdalene in Gethsemane on the Mount ofOlives in Jerusalem (near her aunt Grand DuchessElizabeth Fyodorovna, a Russian Orthodox saint).

"Nonsense, there's a perfectly good busservice!” Her wish was realized on 3 August 1988when her remains were transferred to her finalresting place in a crypt below the church.


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Two wire haired terriers by Arthur Wardle (British artist), 1864–1949

Arthur Wardle (1860–1949) was an English painter. Born in London, aged just sixteen Wardle hada piece displayed at the Royal Academy. His first exhibit was a study of cattle by the River Thames,leading to a lifelong interest in painting animals. In 1880 Wardle lived in Oakley Square, Camden,but artistic success enabled him to move to the more upmarket 34 Alma Square in St John's Woodby 1892. Wardle was prolific; until 1936 he exhibited more than 100 works at the Royal Academy,as well as the Society of British Artists at Suffolk Street. He painted a variety of animal subjectswith equal skill but his work may be divided into two categories, domestic and exotic; animals fromoverseas including leopards, polar bears and tigers such as The Deer-Stealer (1915) were paintedfrom sketches that he made at London Zoo. He is considered equally proficient in oils, watercoloursand pastels and was elected to the Pastel Society in 1911 and became a member of the RoyalInstitute of Painters in Water Colours in 1922. In 1931 he held his first one-man exhibition at theFine Art Society and in 1935 the Vicar’s Gallery put on an exhibition of his work. He also exhibitedin Paris. By 1936 Wardle had moved to West London.

His career was highly successful and his works continue to be sought after and widely reproducedon postcards, calendars and boxes of chocolates. He remains one of the widely known dog paintersof the 19th and 20th Centuries, and he is particularly known for his paintings of terriers. Wardlepainted what is probably the best known painting of the fox terrier in its modern form, TheTotteridge XI (1897). The painting was commissioned by famed smooth fox terrier breeder FrancisRedmond; Wardle painted a number of Redmond’s dogs. The original is in the gallery of TheKennel Club in London.

Dogs in the Coffee Lounge


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This portrait is of Anne Mable (Olivia) "Olive"Trouton, by the same artist as the Princess Aliceportrait in the lounge; Philip Alexius de László,

Little is known of her other than she was born in1901 in Killiney, Dublin Ireland.

She was the daughter of distinguished FrederickThomas Trouton FRS OBE (24 November 1863 –21 September 1922) an Irish physicist known forTrouton's Rule and experiments to detect theEarth's motion through the luminiferous aether.

She was married in 1929 to Adrien Van Montaguand had a son John P in 1930.

She died 1 Oct 1986 in Aylesbury Vale,Buckinghamshire, England.

She is a distant relative of the Queen.

Portrait in the Coffee Lounge

“Miss Olive Trouton” (1910) byPhilip Alexius de László (1869-1937)


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There has been much speculationas to who is the lady in the portraitin the snooker room.

The painting is not an original buta print of the original in the TateGallery.

So who was Helena Snakeborg?Helen was one of six youngSwedish noble ladies who wereMaids of Honour in the retinue ofPrincess Cecilia of Sweden. Ceciliaand her retinue departed Swedenin Autumn 1564 on a voyage toEngland, at the invitation ofQueen Elizabeth I. The welcomingparty at Dover was led by QueenElizabeth and many prominentmembers of the English nobility,including William Parr, 1stMarquess of Northampton (1513-1571), the onlysurviving son of Sir Thomas Parr of Kendal, and brotherof Catherine Parr. Queen Elizabeth appeared to haveformed a friendship with Helen, despite the differencein their ages.

Queen Elizabeth was fond of young Helena andappointed her a Maid of Honour from about 1567,before promoting her to gentlewoman of the royalprivy chamber. Helena became one of the Queen'smost intimate aides and controlled access to theQueen. Helena was granted many privileges, such asher own lodgings at Hampton Court Palace, servants,and a horse.

William Parr hoped to marry Helena but was preventedfrom doing so because his first, though divorced, wifeAnne Bourchier, Baroness Bourchier, was still living.When Anne Bourchier died on 28 Jan 1571, Williamand Helena were finally able to marry. The weddingtook place in May 1571 in Elizabeth's presence in thequeen's closet at Whitehall Palace with pomp andcircumstance. The bride was twenty-two and thegroom fifty-seven. The couple seemed happy together

and divided their time between theirhouses in Guildford, Surrey, and atStanstead Hall, Essex. The marriagecame to a sudden end within a fewmonths when the Marquess died on 28Oct 1571. There were no children. TheDowager Marchioness had received asubstantial dower. According to Englishcustom, as widow of a peer whose titlebecame extinct, she enjoyed the title ofMarchioness for the rest of her life,senior to every other lady at court savethe Queen and the Queen’s cousin,Margaret Douglas. Helen seems to havebeen also known as the "Good LadyMarquess".

Fairly soon Helena captivated anotheradmirer, Thomas Gorges, of Langford,a second cousin of the late Anne

Boleyn, (mother of the Queen), and of a noble family,having descended from John Howard, first Duke ofNorfolk. The Queen was originally in favour of Thomas'courtship of Helena but changed her mind and refusedto consent to a marriage, perhaps because she hadstrong views on unequal marriages: Helena was amarchioness, and by marriage the Queen's kinswoman,Gorges yet only a gentleman. Thomas Gorges andHelena married secretly about 1576. When Elizabethlearned of their clandestine act, Helena was exiled fromthe court, and Thomas was incarcerated in The Towerof London for a brief period. However Helena was laterreinstated, possibly with the help of her influentialfriend, Lord Chamberlain; Thomas Radcliffe, 3rd Earl ofSussex. Soon Helena was back in the Queen's favour.

Queen Elizabeth died in March 1603. The Marchionesswas the chief mourner in the royal funeral processionas senior peeress.

Helena died aged 86 and is buried in SalisburyCathedral leaving 92 direct descendants at the time ofher death.

Young Lady Aged 21,possibly Helena Snakenborg

by an unknown artist 1569Oil on oak panel Tate Gallery

Lady in the Billiard Room


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This is a portrait by Sir Henry Raeburn (1756–1823) of Sir General William Maxwell (1754–1837), 7th Baronet of Calderwood.

Sir Henry Raeburn was Scotland's greatest portraitpainter. He served as Portrait Painter to KingGeorge IV in Scotland. The painting in the SnookerRoom is considered to be the best Maxwellportrait in the world.

William Maxwell was born 4 December 1754. Hewas the eldest son of Alexander Maxwell, Esq.merchent of Leith, by Mary, daughter of HughClerk, Esq,

In 1763 he was appointed an Ensign, in 1770 aLieutenant and in 1773 Captain. At that time hewas based in Ireland.

Prior to 1775 America was under British rule.Growing philosophical and political differencesstrained the relationship between Britain and itscolonies which resulted in The Revolutionary Waror the War of Independence. To crush this uprisingthe 20th regiment, which included WilliamMaxwell, set sail from Cork to North America in1776 to join General Burgoyne. In the action ofFreeman's farm, Sept. 19, 1777 Burgoyne’sregiment was overwhelmed and he surrendered.

Maxwell was taken prisoner at Saratoga. He wasreleased after six months as part of an exchangedeal and returned to England. In 1779 he foundhimself once again bound for America under theleadership of Sir Henry Clinton. He took part in anexpedition to James river in Virginia, under Brig.-Gen. Arnold, for the purpose of destroying a largemilitary depot at Richmond, which was effectedwithout loss. He served the following campaign inVirginia, until the troops joined the army fromCharlestown, under Earl Cornwallis, in 1781, whichterminated in the siege of York town by the Frenchand Americans, where, on Lord Cornwallis'scapitulation, he again became a prisoner.

After his return to England, Major Maxwell wasappointed Lieut Colonel in 1782. He obtained therank of Colonel in 1793. In Sept. 1794 Major-General in 1795, Lieut General in 1808 and fullGeneral in 1812.

He succeeded to the Baronetcy 12 August 1829.

He married 2 July 1792, Isabella, daughter and heirof Henry Wilson, of Newbottle, co Durham. Shedied 1 October 1829. He died 16 March 1837, inEdinburgh, aged 82.

Incidentally, there was another Brig. GeneralWilliam Maxwell who fought on the other side ofthe Revolutionary War or the War ofIndependence in Washington’s Army.

The Other Portrait in the Billiard Room


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Cornish artist Ted Dyer is almost certainly Cornwall's most widely collected contemporary artist.His acclaimed impressionistic oil paintings of Cornwall have been exhibited in Cornwall andLondon for over forty five years. Now in his seventies the artist is painting some of his finest everpieces of work from his studio in Falmouth, Cornwall.

Ted Dyer's work is admired the world over and has been widely published in the form of limitededition prints and art cards. He is the Cornish impressionist that many people will be glad theyhave added to their collections. His paintings from 1990 to the present day are seen as some ofCornwall's finest examples of landscape and seascape painting.

There will often be a narrative content to a Ted Dyer painting and the artist has used his ownfamily as inspiration for this. From a very early age his children would be used as models in thelandscape to help the artist to create a real sense of Cornish magic and light, a sense of family andplace.

Ted Dyer's work hangs in the permanent collection of Falmouth Art Gallery and in manyimportant private collections.

The painting belonged to the late Doreen Bever.

Landscape in the Billiard Room

Children in a Somerset meadow in the 1960s by Ted Dyer

Artwork around the ManorPainting in the Bar

The subject of horsessplashing across theshallows of a ford wasone that fascinatedMunnings and heproduced a series ofvariants of the presentpicture. Augereau andShrimp at the Ford is arecent rediscovery andone of the finestwatercolours made earlyin the evolution of theseries.

The present picture isone of the earliestdepictions of the beautiful white pony Augereauwhich became the principle equestrian model forMunnings' paintings. He was named by Munningsafter seeing a matinee performance of a playcalled 'A Royal Divorce' in which a charactercontinuously exclaimed "I swear it on the wordof an Augereau".

Driving the pony home after the theatre late atnight, whenever the pony misbehaved, Munningsand his groom would correct him and exclaim, "Iswear it on the word of an Augereau!". Augereau,wrote Munnings, “not only brought me wealth,but earned his keep a hundredfold.” The groomwho appears in many of Munnings pictures ofthat period was, in Munnings' words, “anundersized, rough, artful young brigand who sleptunder the caravan with the dogs”

Another contemporary watercolour entitledCrossing the Ford and an oil with the same titleinclude the prominent figure of Munnings' coltAugereau in the same position as he appears inthe present picture. As the series progressed,Munnings changed the arrangements of thehorses considerably and a gypsy boy namedShrimp was repositioned throughout the picture.Here he is forcefully leading the horses forwardwith a powerful surge of movement.

Munnings is known tohave painted three largeversions of The Ford,one of which wasexhibited at the RoyalAcademy in 1911. Twoof these pictures arenow in the collections ofWolverhampton ArtGallery and the Sir AlfredMunnings Art Museumin Dedham. The finishedpainting to which theyand the presentwatercolour relate isnow in the collection of

Lord Lloyd Webber

The oil paintings depicting horses at a ford werepainted in the summer of 1910 in the RinglandHills, Norfolk, but this watercolour and thewatercolour Crossing the Ford are dated twoyears previously and are, therefore, earlyprecursors of the oils. The pictures of fords arestudies in earth tones and painted with greatenergy that captures both the movement of thehorses and also of the water beneath their hooveswhich is particularly animated in this watercolour.The paintings of horses crossing fords depict thepinnacle of this interest as Munnings distilled thesubjects to include little landscape and to focusalmost entirely on the movement of the horsesand the water. Munnings had a profound andintimate knowledge of horses and a finely-tunedunderstanding of their behaviour. It was thisinterest and love of the subject that he depictedthat gave his paintings their conviction andenergy. He never tired of painting horses andtheir riders, and summer after summer hepainted ponies. His understanding of their variousnatures and moods meant that he was able toobserve the differences between them andcapture their character as a successful portraitpainter could capture the personalities of theirhuman sitters.

Researched by Fred Tickle

Crossing The Ford Artwork by Sir Alfred JamesMunnings


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Many smitten men throughtime have sung the praises anddangers of a beautiful face.One of the legendary beautifulfaces of 18th century Englandwas that of Mrs. SophiaMusters whom many foundhard to resist.

Sophia Heywood was born in1758, her father being thegovernor of Plymouth she wasthrown into the path manyaristocratic young ladies wereforced into. By the age of eighteen her parentshad found Sophia a husband who was convenientto them, John Musters. John was rich, goodlooking, and not too much older than Sophia.Sadly Sophia had feelings for George Pitt who, asa younger son, was not a convenient marriage forthe Heywoods. Sophia and John married in 1776.A child was born to the couple every year for thenext four years, sadly though, their last daughterdid not make it past infancy. Life at their countryhome, Colwick Hall was quiet. Both John andSophia were patrons of the arts. Many portraitsduring this time exist of both husband and wife aswell as John's various horses and Sophia's belovedspaniels, giving the outside world the idea that theMusters were in isolated bliss.

Fanny Burney described Sophia as "mostbeautiful, but most unhappy" as well as being thetoast of the town. John was happy being acountry gentleman but Sophia flourished in ametropolitan environment. She was adorable yetswore like Lady Lade. The men couldn't stay awayfrom the charming Mrs. Musters and who was sheto deny them the attention? Once, at a ball, a manapproached Sophia with a glass of chalk and waterand used this clever pickup line: "Chalk is thoughtto be a cure for the heartburn; I wonder whether

it will cure the heartache?"* Noword on whether the lineworked. It wasn't long beforeSophia threw caution to thewind and dove into numerouslove affairs. There was andPenniston Lamb who would goon to marry Caroline St Jules(The illegitimate daughter ofthe Duke of Devonshire and

"John & Sophia Musters Riding at Lady Bess Foster) and also herfirst love, George Pitt. Rumoursalso surfaced about other men

as well such as the Prince of Wales (who wasn'the attached to!) and even Joshua Reynolds whospent man hours with the beauty behind closeddoors, either painting her or giving her privatepainting lessons.

As with all 18th century aristocratic affairs,infidelity never stays secret for long. John wasfurious over the discovery of being cuckolded, hetook an artistic revenge and had Stubbs paintSophia out of their portrait in front of Colwick Hall.As commenter, Jennifer pointed out in a past post," It was only in the late '80s that restorers realizedwhat was behind the layers of paint and restoredit to it's original form." How ancient Egyptian ofhim!

Despite the jealousy and deceit earlier in themarriage, somewhere down the road the couplekissed and made up. Perhaps once Sophia got thewild child out of her system and John felt he couldforgive her, they realized they could settle downto a contented marriage. When Sophia died at 61in 1819 John was heartbroken. In her memory,he commission a tomb sculpture portraying aweeping woman so that someone will eternallymorn the beautiful Mrs. Musters.

Colwick Hall" by George Stubbs

Horse Riding in the Restaurant


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George Stubbs , one of the masters of British sporting art, is best known for his paintings of animals(particularly horses), people and landscapes. His first love was anatomy and his precise dissectionswere recorded in detail. His "Anatomy of the Horse" was published in 1776 and gave him thereputation as the finest equine painter of his time. This knowledge was then translated into hisartwork which remains unrivalled even today. His position now established, he painted the mostfamous horses in Europe

Painting Title: Whistlejacket and two other Stallionswith Simon Cobb, the Groom, by George Stubbs 1762

Horses in the Restaurant


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Although no longer in the grounds of the Manor, they were discovered here when Grove Place was aschool.

In 1727, Viscount Cobham of Stowe House, Buckinghamshire, commissioned John Michael Rysbrack,(sculptor), to create statues of the seven Saxon deities, each named after a day of the week. They werecarved from Portland stone and originally placed in an open grove around an altar in the gardens ofStowe.

In 1921, Rev. the Hon. Louis Morgan-Grenville, who had inherited the house, put it up for sale. Replicasof the seven Saxon deities have been created and can still be seen in the gardens of Stowe. However,the originals were separated and dispersed. In 1985 sculptures of the Saxon Gods Woden and Thunerwere found in a hedge in Grove Place, Thuner being used as a cricket wicket by the boys in theNorthcliffe Prep school. They were subsequently auctioned by Phillips in London, Thuner being soldfor £68,000 to the V&A Museum. Test Valley Council told Northcliffe School that it had committed anoffence in removing the sculptures from Grove Place and may be prosecuted. Northcliffe School'splanning application for permission to remove the statues was granted retrospectively.

Thuner now in the V&AMuseum Sold for £68,000

Woden now in HowdenZoo Sold for £48,000

Sculptures in the grounds of the Manor

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