Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level E , Case W, Shelf 52

Watercolour

ca. 1877 (made)
Artist/Maker

Object Type
In second half of the 19th century there was a fashion among some proud house owners to record particularly elaborate decorative schemes in their houses. They commissioned artists to paint them in watercolours and drawings, or even drew them themselves.

People
William Kenrick (1831-1919) was an influential figure as he was a local MP and mayor in Birmingham. He was the brother-in-law of Joseph Chamberlain (1836-1914) and was interested in the Arts and Crafts Movement. He became Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Birmingham Guild of Handicraft and Chairman of the Museum and School of Art Committee. He gave Sir John Everett Millais' painting The Blind Girl to Birmingham Art Gallery. He was a great admirer of the writer John Ruskin (1819-1900) and a friend of the painter Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898). He owned paintings by Alfred Hunt (1830-1896), Henry Wallis (1830-1916), J.W. North, Burne-Jones, Millais, Holman Hunt (1827-1910) and Albert Moore (1841-1893).

Subjects Depicted
This is a drawing of a room in the house built for Kenrick by John Henry Chamberlain (1831-1883). It shows the external doorway, the staircase and the upper landing. Some of Kenrick's collection of art pottery and Chinese blue and white porcelain is displayed on the hanging shelves. A room from this house is also displayed in the British Galleries.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Watercolour
Brief description
Watercolour of an interior with Chinese Porcelain. A colour sketch of the Hall, The Grove, Harborne
Dimensions
  • Height: 44.5cm
  • Width: 24.2cm
Dimensions checked: Measured; 15/08/2000 by PaperCons estimated mount size previously given 52x32
Gallery label
British Galleries: William Kenrick, who came from a family of industrialists and was a prominent politician in Birmingham, was an amateur artist and collector of Pre-Raphaelite paintings. He may also have painted this watercolour of the hall in his home, The Grove, Harborne, Birmingham. Some of his ceramic collection is shown on the hanging shelves. A room from the house is displayed in Gallery 125.(27/03/2003)
Credit line
Given by the artist
Object history
probably painted by the Rt. Hon. William Kenrick (born in 1831, died in 1919)
Summary
Object Type
In second half of the 19th century there was a fashion among some proud house owners to record particularly elaborate decorative schemes in their houses. They commissioned artists to paint them in watercolours and drawings, or even drew them themselves.

People
William Kenrick (1831-1919) was an influential figure as he was a local MP and mayor in Birmingham. He was the brother-in-law of Joseph Chamberlain (1836-1914) and was interested in the Arts and Crafts Movement. He became Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Birmingham Guild of Handicraft and Chairman of the Museum and School of Art Committee. He gave Sir John Everett Millais' painting The Blind Girl to Birmingham Art Gallery. He was a great admirer of the writer John Ruskin (1819-1900) and a friend of the painter Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898). He owned paintings by Alfred Hunt (1830-1896), Henry Wallis (1830-1916), J.W. North, Burne-Jones, Millais, Holman Hunt (1827-1910) and Albert Moore (1841-1893).

Subjects Depicted
This is a drawing of a room in the house built for Kenrick by John Henry Chamberlain (1831-1883). It shows the external doorway, the staircase and the upper landing. Some of Kenrick's collection of art pottery and Chinese blue and white porcelain is displayed on the hanging shelves. A room from this house is also displayed in the British Galleries.
Bibliographic reference
Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings Accessions 1968 London: HMSO, 1969
Collection
Accession number
E.217-1968

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Record createdMarch 27, 2003
Record URL
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