Lot 123: HENRY J. FLEUSS (1811 - CIRCA 1880) HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS EDWARD ALBERT, PRINCE OF WALES REVIEWING THE TROOPS, DUBLIN, 10 th MAY, 1865

Signed and dated H Fleuss 1865 (lower left) Watercolour and gouache on paper

56 by 47.5 cm

Maybury family of Glenderry; by descent to the present owner

Queen Victoria having remained in seclusion following the death of Prince Albert in December 1861, the role of the Prince of Wales (Edward Albert, later King Edward VII) as representative of the Crown was significantly enhanced, and in May 1865 the Prince made an official State Visit to Ireland to open the Dublin International Exhibition. Arriving at Kingston aboard the royal yacht Victoria and Albert on Monday 8υth May, the Prince was warmly welcomed, and local authorities had arranged 'a series of entertainment in his honour in full keeping with the splendour and magnificence of the inaugural ceremony.'υ1 That night there was a party at the Vice Regal Lodge, on the Tuesday the Prince 'opened the International Exhibition with great éclat in the presence of about 10,000 persons'υ2, and in the evening following the formal ceremonials the Lord Mayor hosted a grand ball at the Mansion-house. Finally, the next day, Wednesday 10υth, the civic and cultural program was rounded off in military style. According to a report in The Times: "A grand review of the troops in garrison in Dublin was held this afternoon on the Fifteen Acres, in the Phoenix Park. The Duke of Cambridge took the command of the troops. They were reviewed by the Prince of Wales and the Lord-Lieutenant; Lady Wodehouse, Mr Edmund R. Wodehouse, the Hon. Ralph Harbord, and other members of the Vice Regal Household accompanied the Royal Party. The number of spectators on the ground was greater than on any similar occasion since the visit of the Queen in 1849. The Prince of Wales, who was attired in the uniform of the 10υth Hussars, of which regiment his Royal Highness is Colonel, was received with the greatest enthusiasm. On the arrival of the Prince, at a quarter past 3 o'clock, a Royal salute of 21 guns was fired, and the troops having been inspected the review at once commenced. It terminated at half-past 4 o'clock." υ3 The present work provides a formal artistic record of this historic event. As noted by the Times correspondent, the Prince is in his Hussar's uniform, looking very much as he does in Robert Jefferson Bingham's carte-de-visite photograph (1864, National Portrait Gallery, London). He rides at the head of the reviewing party, in front of George, Duke of Cambridge (General Commanding in Chief of the British army) in red coat and bicorn hat, and another military gentleman, possibly the Prince of Leiningen, a distant cousin of the Prince and a leading member of his Irish entourage. The figure in a top hat at the edge of the picture is probably Lord Wodehouse, the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. In the distance can be seen the smoke of the salutary cannonade, with Dublin Bay and Howth Head behind. A fine and delicately finished watercolour, the work is by Henry J. Fleuss. Fleuss was German (born in Düsseldorf), but is believed to have settled in England around 1830. A portrait and subject painter in oil and watercolour, he was employed as Drawing Master at Marlborough College from 1844 to 1857. Though relatively little is known of his work, Fleuss has a certain fame by association: William Morris attended Marlborough during his time there, and Fleuss's daughter Margaret later married John Bentley, architect of Westminster Roman Catholic Cathedral. He is represented in the collections of the Manchester City Galleries, with a portrait of the Earl of Wilton.

1. Times, 8 May 1865, p. 12
2. Times, 10 May 1865, p. 12
3. Times, 11 May 1865, p. 11