Lot 106: John Thirtle (1777-1839)

Portrait of John Sell Cotman, Mrs Edmund Miles and Ann Miles in the Miles family farmhouse, Felbrigg, Norfolk
signed and dated 'J. Thirtle Del t 1807' (lower left)
pencil and watercolour, with scratching out
15 1/2 x 20 1/2 in. (39.5 x 51.5 cm.)

Norwich, Norwich Castle Museum, John Thirtle 1777-1839, 1977, no. L2.

M. Allthorpe-Guyton, John Thirtle 1777-1839 Drawings in the Norwich Castle Museum, Norfolk, 1977, p. 21.

This present drawing shows the Miles family farmhouse at Felbrigg in Norfolk and depicts the artist John Sell Cotman, his future wife, Ann and mother-in-law, Mrs Edmund Miles. Edmund and Mary Miles had six daughters, Ann married Cotman in 1809 and Elizabeth married Thirtle in 1812. The present group portrait can be compared to a group of five portraits of the Miles family in Norwich Castle museum, which were presented by a grandson of Catherine Miles (see op.cit. p. 70, nos. 126, 127, 128, 132, 133).

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 17.5% on the buyer's premium.