Neal Auction 2012

W denotes the lot is illustrated at www.nealauction.com 51 177. Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (British, 1812-1852) , “The Eschenheim Tower, City Gate of Frankfurt”, c. 1833/34, graphite on light cream-colored laid paper, very faintly signed “Aug. Pugin” (and possibly dated?) lower left, paper watermarked “[18]33” behind upper right, edge-bordered in thin black ink, 9 7/8 in. x 7 in., in modern mount. $1000/1500 Provenance: James R. Lamantia, Jr., New Orleans and New York. Note: This is an early example of Pugin’s architectural—or more properly topographical— studies, being a view from the north of the famous old watchtower (1400-1428) on the northwest line of the former city walls at Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany. The Eschenheim Gate is now restored to its Medieval form, as Pugin meticulously drew it; like all the monuments of Frankfurt, it was substantially reconstructed after World War II. The twin turrets a third of the way up now have new windows, roof spires, and machiolations; there are two more windows (distinguished by their more modern stonework) to light intermediate floors in the tower itself; and the machiolations, battlements, and spires of the crowning ring of turrets have all been rebuilt. Pugin probably owed his deep acquaintance with this tower to the constant series of travels that he undertook to study Medieval architecture on the Continent (principally in France, Belgium and Germany) beginning in May 1832, when his first wife died in childbirth; and his father, his mother, and his aunt—from whom he inherited financial independence—all followed her within a few months. The paper of this drawing is dated “[18]33” on what is almost certainly a remnant of a John Whatman watermark: there is no reason to assume that Pugin would have availed himself of such a prestigious paper in any later year than 1833/34, and we may confidently take that internal evidence as the date of this fine drawing. Pugin’s later career, as perhaps the finest Gothic Revival architect of the first half of the 19th c., is here given a very significant impetus. Reference: Alexandra Wedgwood, “A. W. N. Pugin,” Grove Dictionary of Art, Jane Turner, ed., London, 1996, 34 vols., vol. 25, pp. 711-716; Baedeker’s Germany, New York, 1986, p. 126. 178. Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (British, 1812-1852) , “The Belfry, Godenberg”, perhaps 1840s, traces of graphite under sepia watercolor, on cream- colored wove paper, titled at bottom center but unsigned, 7 7/8 in. x 5 3/4 in., in a modern mount. $1000/1500 Provenance: James R. Lamantia, Jr., New Orleans and New York. Note: This is a somewhat puzzling drawing, since the town name (in the same sepia ink as the image, and thus presumably inscribed by the artist) seems possibly to be a misspelling for “Göteborg” the city on the southwest coast of Sweden that is often anglicized as “Gothenburg”. As the second-largest city in Sweden, however, with a modern population of some half-million, it seems an unlikely place for Pugin to have sketched the very rustic bell platform in cross-braced timberwork that we see in this fine drawing. On the other hand, that town’s Neo-Gothic church dates only from 1856-59; and since Pugin died in Kent in 1852, it is perhaps conceivable that he might have found Gothenburg’s ecclesiastical foundation (still evidently lacking an up-to-date building during his lifetime) to be relying on what seems clearly a temporary structure for its bell, whose works look more physically suited to a high tower. The setting is less problematic: Gothenburg’s city walls were dismantled in the first decade of the 19th c., and the areas beyond the former moat were landscaped as a park—thus perhaps accounting for the surprising amount of greenery in this drawing. Pugin is recorded as having made more than annual visits to the Continent from the early 1830s; and although Sweden is not specifically mentioned in the summaries of his itineraries, Scottish and English merchants had thronged to Gothenburg’s harbor for over a century and a half, drawn by the Canton trade of its East India Company. From the mid-1840s Gothenburg’s monumental buildings were dominated by the historicist movement, which itself may have tempted Pugin—the archetypal historicist architect—to make the journey to see the town, and perhaps to submit a project for its buildings. References: Gunilla Linde, “Göteborg [Gothenburg],” Grove Dictionary of Art, Jane Turner, ed., London, 1996, 34 vols., vol. 13, pp. 30-31; Alexandra Wedgwood, “A. W. N. Pugin,” ibid., vol. 25, pp. 711-716. 179. George Daniel Stevenson (British, 1845-1931) , “View of Jermyn Street Turkish Bath, London, Showing the Brick Domed Steam Room with a View Beyond the Tile Pool”, ink and watercolor on paper, unsigned, sheet 23 3/8 in. x 19 1/4 in., unframed. $800/1200 Provenance: James R. Lamantia Jr., New Orleans and New York. Note: The Jermyn Street Turkish Baths, built in 1862 and destroyed by a Nazi bomb in World War II, are indicative of the 19th-century fascination with the Orient, particularly the Arab world with its mosques, sheiks, and souks. The architect for the baths, George Somers Clarke (1825-1882), trained with Sir Charles Barry and later became an important exponent of Ruskinian Gothic. Stevenson, a draftsman, detailed much of the Tower Bridge in London for Sir Horace Jones. After Jones’ death, Stevenson took over work on the bridge. These two drawings, elaborately detailed and handsomely executed were probably prepared for presentation purposes. Exhibited: William R. Cullison and James Lamantia, An Eye for Architecture: Architectural and Decorative Drawings from the Collection of James Lamantia, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Tulane University, New Orleans, 16 September to 31 October 1984, no. 26 A & B. Also illustrated in catalogue. 177 178 179