Lot 132: Edward John Gregory, R.A. (1850-1909)

Rediviva: Great-grandmother's wedding dress
signed and dated 'E.J. Gregory 1903' (lower left) and further signed and inscribed '"Rediviva" E.J.Gregory 8 Greville Place Maida Vale NW' (on an old label on the stretcher)
oil on canvas
43 1/2 x 30 1/2 in. (110.5 x 77.5 cm.)

London, Royal Academy, 1903, no. 197.
London, Royal Academy, Winter Exhibition: 'Exhibition of Modern Works in Sculpture and Painting Forming the Collection of the late George McCulloch Esq.', no. 83 (as 'The Old Wedding Gown'), lent by Mrs George McCulloch, 184 Queen's Gate, SW.

Purchased from the Royal Academy by George McCulloch.

The word 'Rediviva' means 'revived'. A young girl has found her great grandmother's wedding dress and Regency bonnet from a century earlier in a dressing up box, and is delighting in showing it off. Gregory was most famous for his masterpiece Boulter's Lock, Sunday Afternoon, now in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, which helped secure his election to the Royal Academy in 1897-8. The crowded composition demonstrates the same interest in costume as the present piece, which cleverly capitalises on the interest in the Regency period that was burgeoning in the early years of the 20 t h Century.

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.