Although fairly well known, these Victorian Paintings / Miniature pictures were found in a skip, awaiting their final visit to the Recycling Centre !!
- LEWIS CAGE OF MILLGATE PARK, KENT. Francis Coates 1768 – a founding member of the Royal Academy.
- THE COURTNEY BROTHERS. Attributed to Thomas Hudson c. 1770 – a highly regarded portrait painter (Joshua Reynolds was his apprentice).
- MISS WICKET and MISS TRIGGER. Unknown artist c. 1778
- THE CRICKETER BOY. English School c. 1790
- MR HOPE OF AMSTERDAM. Francois Jean Sablet 1792 – a Swiss artist.
- RURAL SPORTS (CRICKET MATCH EXTRAORDINARY). Thomas Rowlandson 1811- the leading satirist and caricaturist of the late Regency Period.
- THE SCORER (William Davis of Sussex)? Thomas Henwood 1842 – an artist who has works in the National Portrait Gallery.
- TOSSING FOR INNINGS? R James c. 1846
- THE BOWLER (ALFRED MYNN). George Frederick Watts 1843 – a pre-eminent Victorian, painter, sculptor and writer.
- SUSSEX VERSUS KENT. Unknown artist c. 1849
- SIR DONALD BRADMAN. Arthur Mailey 1948
The point is that, with royal and aristocratic patrons, these painters did not need cricket as a subject. Portrait work was much more lucrative. That they chose these subjects reflects the importance and popularity of cricket in the early 19th Century……and not just in this country, as the Sablet picture shows.
Arthur Mailey may not have been in the same division as an artist, but he was a better cricketer. He played 21 Tests for Australia in the early 20th Century, taking 99 wickets and is regarded as the father of Australian leg break bowling.
Photography – Mike Unwin.