ford madox brown - eTheses Repository - University of Birmingham

works to be bought for a public collection when it was sold by him in 1876 to the Art
Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. 29
The drawings in the Birmingham collection span the entire period that Brown was
working on the project, from its conception in 1845 to its completion in 1851. Several of
the
drawings relate to both the central panel and the side wings, and for clarity are
catalogued here under one title: Chaucer at the Court of Edward III.
encil with iron-gall ink; 254 x 185 mm
1; Ford Madox Brown: The Unofficial Pre-Raphaelite, p. 64
" 1845); 30
Cat. no. 15 Chaucer at the Court of Edward III: Early compositional Study, 1845
Verso: Chaucer at the Court of Edward III: Study for Milton and two Designs for
Tombstones, c. 1845-c. 1846
P
Insc. br.: Ford M Brown Rome/ 4 [5 cut]
Lit.: Whitley, p. 3
Exh.: Arts & Crafts, 1896 (441) (under the title First Sketch for "Chaucer,
Grafton, 1897 (190) 31
Prov.: Charles Fairfax Murray
Presented by Subscribers, 1906 (1906P680)
This is one of two very early compositional studies for Chaucer at BMAG. It is
interesting to see how soon Brown had settled on a composition as many of the figures in
this early drawing appear almost unchanged in the final painting. These include Chaucer,
the courting couple in the left corner, the troubadour holding his lute and the lady sitting
in the centre foreground with her back to us and a page boy leaning against her legs.
ngs, sitting up but twisted round in the Cecil Higgins study
ig. 77) and sitting in profile in the final painting (Fig. 2). It is difficult to tell which of
32
There were significant changes quite early on which can be seen if this drawing is
compared to cat. no. 16 and the chalk study for the whole composition (Fig. 77). Brown
seems to have been concerned with the position of John of Gaunt and he appears in a
different position in each design and in the final version. Likewise the pose of the Black
Prince on the right troubled Brown and he tried several variations, showing him lying
down in the BMAG drawi
(F
29
The gallery was conceived in 1874 with trustees appointed to ‘administer a vote of £500 from the New
South Wales Government “towards the formation of a Gallery
of Art,” (Jay Butler, ‘Ford Madox Brown’s
Chaucer at the Court of Edward III, Catalogue of Acquisitions,
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney,
1975,
p. 33). Chaucer was chosen by the trustees, one of whom was J. H. Thomas, the brother of Brown’s
lifelong friend William Cave Thomas. It was the first non-Australian painting to enter the collection.
30
No. 441 included multiple works. It is described in the catalogue as 'Studies for "Ascension, " 1844 First
sketch for "Chaucer," 1845 Sketch for "Oure Ladye of Saturday Night," 1846 Head of Wycliffe, 1847 Lent
by C. Fairfax Murray, Esq' (Op. cit. at note 9). It is therefore unclear which of the two early compositional
studies for Chaucer was exhibited.
31
Likewise cat. no. 190 is described as 'studies for "Ascension" (1844). First
Sketch for Chaucer" (1845).
Fairfax Murray, Esq (Exhibition of the Works of Ford Madox Brown, Grafton Galleries, London,
1897, p.
49). 'First sketch for Chaucer' may be cat. no. 16 which is illustrated in Hueffer's biography with the same
title but it is impossible to be certain.
32
Jay Butler has identified the couple as Lady de Bohun, later Countess of Gloucester and Thomas of
Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester. She has identified the lady on the stool as the Countess of Warwick (Op.
cit. at note 29, p. 35)
209