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Antique Landscape Painting "Start of the Day" by William Shayer, Senior
About the Item
"THE START OF THE DAY" BY WILLIAM SHAYER SR. (BRITISH, 1788-1879)
Executed in oil on canvas, signed lower left
Item # 012PGJ11S
An extremely fine painting by self-taught artist William Shayer, the Elder, the dramatic scene captures a busy coastal harbor where fishermen ready their boats for the day. Shayer's ability to work with light to dramatically emphasize characters and elements is clearly at work in this scene, the low-lying sun casting clear warm light across the water to highlight the young girl breaking from her chores to chat with an older boy. He is resting, perhaps having finished his duties as an early morning fisherman, as a basket nearby is filled with the day's catch. A terrier lies watching the two, translucent light scattered across his coat while half of his body lies hidden in opaque shadows of the nearby rock.
This work was acquired at Christies in New York during their auction of American Paintings from the Mrs. George Arden Collection on May 23rd of 1991, the original labels still retained verso. It was then acquired from the gallery of Frederick W. Thom, Ltd. in Toronto, Canada and was held in a private collection until now.
Housed in an early and quite fine giltwood composition frame, this is an exquisite acquisition - brilliant light, exquisite detail and a warm scene that truly convey Shayer's love of British life and countryside.
Born in Southampton, William Shayer Sr. started out painting rush-bottom chairs before leaving for Guildford where he set himself up as a coach-painter. His work was well-regarded and word soon spread regarding the quality of his coats of arms, leading to his commission to paint the funeral escutcheon of the 4th Earl of Richmond. Shayer continued to paint coats of arms and heraldic devices but in his free time he turned his attention to landscape paintings.
On a visit to Southampton to spend time with his family, Shayer received instruction from the seascape painter Jock Wilson (whom Shayer would soon surpass in terms of their respective ability to paint coastal and sea views). Shayer moved to Bladon Lodge in Shirley, near Southampton, an area renowned for its beautiful skies and rejected all overtures by his peers to return to London.
The self-taught artist would become beloved for the great breadth of his genre compositions. While the sea and the coast were always close to his heart, he painted all aspects of British life: gameskeepers, gypsies, shepherds, hawkers, townsfolk selling at markets or resting at country inns and farmers doing chores.
Shayer married Sarah Lewis Earle in 1810 and fathered William Shayer the Younger, Charles Waller Shayer and Henry Thring Shayer. He was admitted membership to the Society of British Artists in 1862 and showed 338 paintings at the Society exhibitions from 1825 to 1870. He also exhibited 6 works at London's Royal Academy and 82 paintings at the British Institution. (Source: Benezit)
In essence, William Shayer painted genre compositions featuring fishermen, gamekeepers, gypsies, shepherds, hawkers and the like. He ranks alongside John Frederick Herring and Thomas Sidney Cooper in the pantheon of 19th-century English landscape art.
Artist Listings & Bibliography:
*E. Benezit Dictionary of Artists, Vol. XII, Gründ, 2006, p. 1095-1097
Provenance:
*Christies, New York, 23 May 1991, lot 204, estimated $ 10,000-15,000, achieved $ 8,800 USD
*Frederick W. Thom Ltd, Toronto, Canada
Measurements: 29 1/8" H x 39 3/8" W [canvas]; 35 7/8" H x 46 5/8" W x 3" D [frame]
Condition Report:
Relined. Scattered touchups visible under UV. Light craquelure throughout. Cleaned in the last thirty years, still remaining in excellent presentation-ready condition - old varnish may perhaps benefit from being cleaned at some point, but we prefer to hold off as long as possible. Early frame in overall good condition with minor breaks and blemishes.
About silla antiques & art
Established in 2009, we have available in our 9000 square foot brick-and-mortar gallery an ever-changing selection of carefully curated and catalogued furniture, decorative arts, paintings, sculpture and estate jewelry. Our company has long specialized in sculpture circa 1860 through 1930 and as such the gallery always has a very large collection of exceptional European and American sculpture available on display.
The gallery is located at 117 W Burd Street in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania and is open by appointment only. We welcome your visit and would love to meet with you at the shop. For clients located outside of the area, we are always available to discuss items by video conferencing or by phone.
- Creator:WILLIAM SHAYER SENIOR (1787-1879) (Artist)
- Dimensions:Height: 35.88 in (91.14 cm)Width: 46.6 in (118.37 cm)Depth: 3 in (7.62 cm)
- Style:Romantic (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Unknown
- Condition:Repaired: Relined, cleaned, minor inpainting under UV. Wear consistent with age and use. See condition notes in description text.
- Seller Location:Shippensburg, PA
- Reference Number:
WILLIAM SHAYER SENIOR (1787-1879)
William Joseph Shayer, senior was a self-taught artist, who began by painting decorations on rush-bottom chairs, and moved on to painting carriages in the town of Guildford, after which he started doing a heraldic painting. Ultimately he began painting oil on canvas and became skilled at portraying woodland scenes with gipsies, people and animals in front of country inns and farmhouses, and beach scenes crowded with boats and fishermen. He lived mainly in the south of England, in Shirley, Southampton, but painted throughout Hampshire and in a wooded district in the southwest part of Hampshire called the New Forest. Michael Hoy, a wealthy Southampton merchant, was one of his most enthusiastic patrons and bought many of Shayer’s paintings of the area.
Shayer lived a long life, during which he had two wives and ten children. His eldest son, William Joseph Shayer, junior (1811-1892) was also a painter and painted in a style very similar to his father. Their paintings are easily confused, which is made all the more difficult by the fact that they probably collaborated on several paintings in the elder Shayer’s later years. Three of Shayer senior’s younger sons – Edward Dasherwood Shayer (1821-1864), Henry Thring Shayer (1825-1894) and Charles Walker Shayer (1826-1914) – became painters as well, and all assisted him at times in his studio. William Shayer, senior died at the age of 92 on 21 December 1879 at his home at Bladon Lodge near Southampton.
William Shayer, senior was a competent landscape artist, but he is best known as a figure painter. His work is reminiscent in some respects to the paintings of George Morland, another very popular figure painter. Shayer’s work though has a depth and brightness to it missing from the paintings of many of his contemporaries, due to his skilful application of glaze (i.e., spreading a thin, oily, transparent layer of paint over a dry opaque paint). He exhibited at the Royal Academy (6 works), the British Institution (82 works), and at the Suffolk Street Gallery of the Society of British Artists (338 works). He also exhibited in many of the lesser-known Victorian art venues as well. His works are on display at many museums including the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Tate Gallery, the Glasgow Art Gallery, and the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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