Lot 106: Alfred W. Elmore, R.A. (1815-1881)

The Gaming Table with inscription 'The Gaming Table/by/A. Elmore R.A./From the collection of/Miss Braddon/(the famous novelist)' (on the reverse) oil on board 7 7/8 x 6 in. (20 x 15.2 cm.) PROVENANCE Mary Elizabeth Braddon. Anon. sale, Christie's, London, 29 July 1977, lot 97, when acquired by the present owner. NOTES The subject recalls one of Elmore's most famous works, On the Brink, of 1865 (fig. 1; Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge), in which an unhappy girl sits in the moonlight outside the Salon d'Or at Homburg. Whether she has just lost her fortune, or is on the brink of being seduced, we know not, but it is no wonder that this smaller picture appealed to Mary Elizabeth Braddon, whose novels were filled with rakish dilettantes, dark family secrets, madness and murder. It is tempting to think that, as found at Old Battersea House, she kept the picture on her desk.