Lot 47: SIR EDWIN LANDSEER, R.A. AND FRIEDRICH WILHELM KEYL 1802-1873 AND 1823-1871

inscribed on the label attached to the reverse:A Portrait of a favourite Dog/belonging to Mrs Kyle a friend of/Sir Edwin Landseer R.A./Painted by Mr Kyle, the Face/painted by Sir Edwin Landseer R.A./to verify which Mr Thomas Landseer A.R.A./who was often at Mr Chances took the/Portrait to Mrs Kyle who recognised it/as her favourite Dog/& said it was painted/by her Husband & the Face by Sir Edwin Landseer/J.H.Chance

PORTRAIT OF MRS KEYL'S FAVOURITE DOG

36 by 30.5 cm., 14 by 12 in.

oil on panel

John Homer Chance (1825-1900)

Friedrich Wilhelm Keyl was the nearest that anyone came to being a pupil of Landseer. Landseer introduced Keyl at court and he was thereafter employed painting mainly animal subjects, including a number of portraits of hounds. He later worked with Landseer on the portrait of Queen Victoria at Osborne, in the Royal Collection.

The present picture was in the collection of Mr Chance, the son of Robert Lucas Chance and his wife Louisa, daughter of Edward Homer. Amongst other pictures, Mr Chance owned a portrait of Humphrey Gainsborough, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1886 and a version of the Strawberry Girl, no longer thought to be by Reynolds, now in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore.