Lot 1591
RICHARD CROSSE (1742-1810)
PORTRAITS OF THE ARTIST'S PARENTS, JOHN AND MARY CROSSE, OF KNOWLE, CULLOMPTON, DEVON
A pair, he depicted standing, long half length, wearing a dark green coat and waistcoat, a hat under his left arm; she seated three quarter length, wearing a silver-grey dress and black lace shawl, a dog in her lap, each oil on canvas
Each 118 x 98cm. (2)
Provenance: W. W. R. Crosse-Crosse Esq (sic); London, Sothebys, November 22nd, 1961, The Property of Lt. Col. R. Crosse-Upcott, lots 190 and 191 (unsold); by whom gifted to his neighbour, Anthony Shrubb Esq, a noted collector of Crosse's miniatures; bequeathed by his widow, Mrs Shrubb, to the vendor in 2014
Illustrated: Ellis Waterhouse, The Dictionary of British 18th Century Painters, Woodbridge, 1981, p.95 (image of John Crosse)
Literature: The Walpole Society, Vo. XV11, 1929, Basil Long, `Richard Crosse: Miniaturist and Portrait Painter` (wherein reference is made to these portraits and to six other oils of family members)
* Crosse was the second of seven children. His father, a lawyer in Devon, encouraged his son to pursue painting and Richard proved to be a precocious talent. He exhibited in London at the age of 18 and was a member of the Society of Artists by the time he was 21. His undoubted forte was miniature painting and Waterhouse notes that he painted only ` a few very competent oil portraits of his own family` in a style `not unlike the earlier work of Reynolds`.He excelled at work in enamel and produced over 100 miniatures between 1777 and 1780. Despite elevation to the post of Painter in Enamel to King George III (1789), Crosse had already retired to Wells and lived an uneventful but financially comfortable life there, enforced upon him by being deaf and mute since birth. He returned to Knowle to end his days with his brother. These portraits show a fine translation of Crosse's skills into a larger format and the evident competence of them both makes it all the more surprising that so very few are known.
