British picture restorers, 1630-1950 - A
A selective directory, to be revised and expanded regularly, 1st edition March 2009. Contributions and corrections are welcome, to Jacob Simon at jsimon@npg.org.uk.
Ernest Alden, 1 William St, Lowndes Square, London SW 1893-1900, 39 King's Rd, Sloane Square SW 1901-1940. Picture mount cutter, later picture framemaker.
See British picture framemakers on the National Portrait Gallery website.
John Anderson, Suffolk St, London 1750s, Little Piazza, Covent Garden 1769, Park St, Covent Garden to 1773. Painter, picture dealer and picture restorer.
The activities of John Anderson (d.1773) as a picture dealer have been explored by David Connell, to whom this account is indebted. Many of his dealings were undertaken privately, acting as an agent. Late in life, in 1769, he claimed to have been active for 40 years (see below). However, it was not until 1742 that he comes to notice, when he purchased five paintings at the posthumous sale of Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford. He attended picture sales in London over three decades, often acting on behalf of collectors, in the 1750s purchasing pictures for Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont, and in the 1760s for Charles Ingram, 9th Viscount Irwin. ‘Anderson’ is recorded as a buyer at 15 picture sales between 1742 and 1759 (‘Sale catalogues of the principal collections of pictures..., 1711-1759’, 2 ms vols, V&A National Art Library, 86.OO.18-19).
As a picture cleaner, Anderson undertook work for Frederick Prince of Wales, 1747-9, restoring 42 paintings (Connell 2007 p.121; see also Michael Levey, The Later Italian Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, 2nd ed., Cambridge, 1991, p.122, and Millar 1963 pp.105, 109); his final bill came to £260.13s, including the substantial sum of 30 guineas for ‘Cleaning & making out & Repairing’ Van Dyck’s St Martin dividing his Cloak (Royal Collection, see Millar 1963 p.104; see also pp.100, 102, 109, 109, 110).
In a letter of 24 February 1750, ‘Mr Anderson’ was praised by Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield as a ‘very safe man’ to remove the varnish on a painting by Rubens which he had just acquired. Anderson also sometimes cleaned pictures that he had purchased for Lord Egremont, being paid 5 ½ guineas in 1751 and 93 ½ guineas in 1752 (Connell 2007 p.122, from information supplied by Christopher Rowell), and undertaking further work for Egremont’s executors, 1763-4 (West Sussex Record Office: Petworth House Archives, PHA/6615). He provided a similar service to Lord Irwin, cleaning Rubens’s Holy Family with Infant St John (with Agnew’s, see Connell 2007 figs 6, 8) and Claude’s Pastoral Landscape (Earl of Halifax, see Connell 2007 figs 7, 8) for £3.3s in 1765, and also reframing these pictures.
George Vertue saw an enormous portrait at Anderson’s in 1749, namely Daniel Mytens’s Charles I and Henrietta Maria departing for the Chase (Serlby Hall, see Millar 1963 p.86), then belonging to Richard Arundell (Vertue vol.5, p.78). Anderson cleaned pictures for John Warde of Squerryes Court in Kent in 1747 and 1756, and for the Duke of Bedford in 1756, cleaning and repairing a portrait of Lord Bacon which was ‘in a very bad condition’. He was mentioned in 1768 by Sir Brook Bridges(?) in a letter to Horace Walpole about ‘Anderson’ securing a portrait of Richard III (Walpole’s Correspondence, vol.41, 1980, p.132), and in February 1770 by Sir Joshua Reynolds, who noted him as a picture cleaner in his pocketbook (Connell 2007 p.126, n.54).
After a fire in 1769 Anderson appealed for aid ‘to the Nobility, Gentlemen and Artists’, referring to his 'Care and Labour of 40 Years' (Gazeteer and New Daily Advertiser 8 May 1769, Public Advertiser 25 May 1769). Following his death, his old master paintings were sold by Mr Christie on 4 and 5 March 1774, when Anderson was described as late of Park St (Daily Advertiser 27 January 1774). His business was taken over by his son-in-law, Charles Lloyd (qv).
Sources: David Connell, ‘John Anderson and John Bouttats: picture dealers in eighteenth-century London’, in Jeremy Warren and Adriana Turpin (eds), Auctions, Agents and Dealers. The Mechanisms of the Art Market 1660-1830, Oxford, 2007, pp.120-6; Lord Mahon, The Letters of Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, vol.3, 1892, p.343; G. Scott Thomson, ‘The Restoration of the Duke of Bedford’s Pictures’, Burlington Magazine, vol.92, 1950, p.321. For abbreviations, see Resources and bibliography.
Frederick William Andrew, 22 Coleshill St, Pimlico, London 1844-1847, 268 Oxford St 1848-1857, 1858-1859, home addresses from 1859, 9 Gloucester Grove West, Brompton 1859-1862, 3 Neville Terrace, Onslow Gardens, South Kensington 1863-1891 or later. Stationer from 1844, jeweller and stationer from 1848, Fancy Repository from 1851, then restorer of works of art and antiquities, later Superintendent South Kensington Museum.
Frederick William Andrew (1822-1903) was christened at St Mary Marylebone, the eldest of four children born to Frederick William Andrew senr and Ruth Tudor between 1822 and 1829. His father traded from 23 Northumberland St, Marylebone, and took out insurance from these premises with the Sun Fire office in 1822, 1827 and 1828 as a painter (and glazier in 1828) (Guildhall Library: Records of Sun Fire Office, vols 493 no.987191, 515 no.1065001, 516 no.1069747); he died in 1847, leaving a will in which he described himself as a painter and glazier of St Marylebone.
The son, as F.W. Andrew junr, exhibited a still-life at the Society of British Artists in 1842. Initially, he traded as a stationer, then as a jeweller and stationer from 1850 and as a fancy repository from 1851. In 1857 he appears to have given up trade and turned to restoration. In censuses, he was described in 1851 at 268 Oxford St as ‘Fancy Repository, Master’, age 28, and in 1861 as a restorer of antiquities, age 38, living at Brompton, with Lucy, his wife, 43, a drawing teacher. In subsequent censuses he can be found at 3 Neville Terrace in South Kensington, in 1871 as an artistic repairer for the South Kensington Museum, with seven children between the age of 8 and 24, in 1881 as an artistic restorer, by now a widow, and in 1891 as Superintendent, Art work…(?), South Kensington Museum. F.W. Andrew held an account with the artists’ suppliers, Roberson, from the South Kensington Museum, 1862-6, 1875-6 and from his home address, 3 Neville Terrace, 1871-4 (Woodcock 1997). It is at this home address that he was listed in the court section of London directories. He died in 1903 at the age of 80 in the Uxbridge registration district.
F.W. Andrew undertook very occasional restoration work for the National Portrait Gallery. Using a monogrammed paper from 3 Neville Terrace, he billed the Gallery in 1885 for cleaning 27 white marble busts for £6.15s; earlier, in 1879, he had restored Camille Manzini’s miniature, Thomas Grenville, for 10s.6d (National Portrait Gallery records, Duplicates of Accounts, vol.1, p.105, vol.2, p.80).
For abbreviations, see Resources and bibliography.
James Martin Anthony, various London addresses before 1841 including 12 Tavistock Row, 28 Coventry St, 12 Shaftesbury Terrace, Vauxhall Bridge Road; 33 Newman St 1839, 41 Lisle St, Leicester Square 1840-1841, 79 St Martin’s Lane 1844; various addresses before 1850 including 16 Frith St, Soho, 5 Park Walk, Chelsea; 84 St Martin’s Lane 1848-1851, 18 Greek St 1850-1852, Hammond’s Coffee house, St Martin’s Court, Leicester Square 1850. Artist and picture cleaner and restorer.
James Martin Anthony (c.1797-1851?), artist and picture restorer, was born at Waterford in Ireland according to the 1851 census. He was the older brother of William Anthony (qv). He was in trouble for debt in his last 10 years. Described as late of 41 Lisle St, he was imprisoned for debt in 1841 (London Gazette 22 January 1841). When he was brought back to court the following year, he was described as an artist and picture cleaner, formerly of various addresses, given above, and late of 41 Lisle St (London Gazette 3 May 1842). He appeared again before the court in 1850, still described as an artist and picture cleaner, formerly of various addresses, given above, now of 18 Greek St and of Hammond’s Coffee house (London Gazette 9 July 1850). He was followed at 18 Greek St by Redmond Anthony, precise relationship unknown (see below).
In the 1851 census Anthony was listed at 18 Greek St, as a picture restorer, 54, with wife and two sons, William, age 11, and James C., age 8. He appears to be the individual who died in the Strand registration district later the same year. However, it should be noted that there is a directory listing in his name at 55 Rupert St, Haymarket in 1853. The son, James C., later worked with William Anthony (see below).
For work undertaken for Sir John Soane’s Museum by ‘Mr Anthony’, see William Anthony, below.
Redmond Anthony, 18 Greek St, London 1852, 30 Gerrard St 1854-1855, 4 Hatcham Terrace, Hatcham New Town, Old Kent Road, Surrey 1855, 7 Werrington St, Oakley Square, Somers Town 1861, 18 Millbank Row, Westminster 1862, 14 Green St, Leicester Square 1864, 42 Lisle St, Leicester Square 1865-1866, 4 Peter’s Court, St Martin’s Lane by 1868-1870, 115 High St, Stoke Newington 1871, Millhouses, Abbeydale Road, Sheffield 1881, 108 Millhouse Lane, Ecclesall, Sheffield 1891. Picture restorer, picture dealer and artist.
Redmond or Redmund Campbell Anthony (c.1830-1897) was in frequent financial trouble. In 1855 he was imprisoned for debt, described as a picture dealer and restorer of old paintings, late of 4 Hatcham Terrace (London Gazette 17 July 1855). He was declared bankrupt in 1862, described as an artist of 18 Millbank Row and previously of 7 Werrington St, and was bankrupt again in 1868, still as an artist but now at 4 Peter’s Court, St Martin’s Lane (The Times 15 November 1862, London Gazette 9 December 1862 and 17 November 1868).
Anthony was born in Paris, according to the 1861 census return. He was presumably closely related to James Martin Anthony (see above), whom he followed at 18 Greek St, and to William Anthony (see below). He married Jesse Adelaide Shaylor at St Pancras Old Church in 1859. He was listed in the 1861 census as a restorer of paintings, age 31, in 1871 as an artist and restorer of paintings in Stoke Newington, and in 1881 and 1891 in Sheffield. He died in Sheffield in 1897.
William Anthony, 1840-1870, Edward Anthony 1871-1875. At 25 Bedford St, Covent Garden, London 1840-1841, 26 Southampton St, Covent Garden 1841-1845, 19 Lisle St 1846-1851, 1 Duke St, St James's 1851-1875, 2 Duke Street 1852-1853. Picture restorer and cleaner, picture dealer.
William Anthony (c.1803/8-1870?), younger brother of James Martin Anthony (qv), was recorded in census records, in 1841 as an artist in Southampton St, in 1851 as a picture restorer at 1 Duke St, age 43, and in 1861 as a picture cleaner at the same address, born in Ireland, with his nephew, James Anthony, age 18, also listed as a picture cleaner, born St Martin-in-the-Fields. William Anthony may be the individual who died age 66 in 1870 in the St James’s Westminster registration district. James Anthony can be identified as James Campbell Anthony (b.1842), son of James Martin Anthony (qv), and was born in the St Martin-in-the-Fields registration district in 1842. In censuses, he was recorded in 1871 as a picture cleaner, age 30, lodging at 24 Lisle St, and in 1881 as a picture restorer, age 38, lodging at 38 Clarendon Square.
It was not James Anthony who followed William Anthony in business but Edward Anthony, who was recorded in the 1871 census at 1 Duke St as a picture restorer, age 30, born in County Kilkenny.
William Anthony had an account with the artists’ suppliers, Roberson, from 26 Southampton St, 1841-3, and from Lisle St and 1 Duke St, 1848-69 (Woodcock 1997).
‘Mr. Anthony’, whether William Anthony or another member of the family, undertook cleaning, lining and restoration work, in collaboration with John Seguier, 1841, on Canaletto’s Riva degli Schiavoni looking West (Sir John Soane’s Museum, information from Hilary Floe and Helen Dorey). William Anthony worked for the National Portrait Gallery in 1858 and 1860 (National Portrait Gallery records, Duplicates of Accounts, vol.1, pp.22, 37), including lining and repairing Samuel Drummond's Sir Marc Isambard Brunel for £4 and regilding the frame for £3.12s in 1860 (Walker 1985 p.70). For the National Gallery, he gave an opinion for £2.2s in 1867 on a picture ascribed to Paul Potter (National Gallery Archive, NG13/1/4).
For abbreviations, see Resources and bibliography.
John Arnold, Covent Garden, London to 1727 and presumably thereafter, Tavistock Row, Covent Garden 1745-1746. Picture restorer and portrait painter.
John Arnold (d.1752) lived in Covent Garden with his uncle, Jan van der Vaart (qv), a Dutch portrait painter and engraver, for between 30 and 40 years until Van der Vaart’s death in 1727 (Vertue vol.3, p.32). ‘Arnold’ was a member of the Rose and Crown club of artists and a subscriber to the Academy of Painting in Great Queen St in 1713 (Vertue vol.6, pp.34, 169, see also Bignamini 1991 pp.53, 56 n.5, 73).
At Van der Vaart’s death in 1727, Arnold was his executor and main beneficiary, being described in his will as 'John Arnold alias Hornevelt' (Croft-Murray and Hulton p.484, where mistakenly given as Spornevelt). In 1746, John Arnold was described as ‘leaving off house-keeping’, when two sales were held at his house in Tavistock Row by Christopher Cock (qv), firstly of his pictures and household furniture and his house lease at £16 p.a., and secondly of his prints and drawings, 3-4 February 1746 (Daily Advertiser 22 January 1746; sale catalogue, British Museum, Prints and Drawings Dept).
It has been suggested that Arnold died in 1745 (Waterhouse 1981) but it is now known that he is the John Arnold, described as from St Martin-in-the-Fields, who was buried in the Church of St Paul Covent Garden on 11 December 1752 (William H. Hunt (ed.), The Registers of St Paul’s, Covent Garden, vol.4, 1908, p.2). In his will, made 17 June 1752 and proved 3 May 1753, John Arnold, Gentleman of St Paul Covent Garden, asked to be buried as close to his uncle, Jan van der Vaart, as possible; he made generous provision for his niece, Mary van Tol, and her children, and also for his nephew, the Revd Arnoldus Kuys, whom he made his executor, together with his friend, James Tysoe. He also made bequests to his brother-in-law, Bastian Hornevelt, to Bastian’s daughter, Sarah Hornevelt and to the two sons of his other brother-in-law, Barnett Hornevelt.
Very little is known of John Arnold’s work as a portrait painter and perhaps also a still-life painter beyond his assistance for his uncle, Jan van der Vaart. According to George Vertue, Arnold cleaned John Michael Wright's portraits of the Fire Judges at the Guildhall, apparently at some date after 1721 (Vertue vol.2, p.138). He seems also to have been involved in picture dealing. ‘Arnold’ was a buyer at sales in 1726 and 1742 (‘Sale catalogues of the principal collections of pictures..., 1711-1759’, 2 ms vols, V&A National Art Library, 86.OO.18-19).
Arnold also undertook restoration work on country house collections. He worked for Lord Dysart, 'Lining, Cleaning & Mending... Pictures’, according to his bill, 1736-7 (copy in Victoria and Albert Museum, Furniture Dept archive). The steward at Badminton House, in his weekly labour book, recorded the presence of ‘Mr Arnold the picture mender in the house' in July and August 1746 (Gloucestershire Record Office: Badminton Muniments, D2700/QB3/3/1).
For abbreviations, see Resources and bibliography.
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Not included here since institutional histories are outside the scope of this directory, but see Mark Norman, ‘Paintings conservation and the Ashmolean’, The Ashmolean, no.55, summer 2008, p.27, and Mark Norman, ‘The history of conservation in the Ashmolean’, The Ashmolean, no.56, spring 2009, pp.21-3. The following restorers in this directory worked for the Museum or the University Galleries: Henry Merritt 1867, Morrill 1867, Buttery family from 1897, Horace Buttery 1926-38, 1945-55, Sebastian Isepp 1940s. This is a provisional listing, which it is hoped to extend in the next edition of this directory.
Noticed a mistake? Have some extra information? Who should be added to this directory? Please contact Jacob Simon at jsimon@npg.org.uk.
