This beautiful late 19th-century oil painting by distinguished British artist Edward Ladell (1821-1886) depicts cobnuts, a roemer, raspberries, a peach, black grapes and a leaf on a carved wooden ledge. Celebrated as a genius, Ladell was regarded by many as the finest still life painter of the Victorian era. A “most genial, kind-hearted and affable man”, he was self-taught and deeply influenced by the works of the 17th-century Dutch masters.
Born in the sleepy Suffolk village of Hasketon, his father was a reputable coachbuilder and taught his son the family trade. It appears that he initially worked for the business before turning his hand to engraving. Little is known about his early success aside from a newspaper advertisement in 1849, which referred to him as a “Picture Dealer, Carver, and Gilder”, currently working on an engraving titled ‘The Village Pastor’.
It’s interesting to consider when young Ladell was first exposed to the works of the great Dutch flower painters. The region of East Anglia (Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire) has a long-established connection with the low countries and numerous pieces were imported. Popular with the aristocracy, no country manor was complete without an exquisitely-rendered vase of vivid blooms. Perhaps during his time as a dealer/engraver, he was asked to produce copies of Dutch works from notable local collections.
During the mid-1850s, with his career beginning to blossom, Ladell debuted at London’s Royal Academy where he continued to exhibit for 30 years. His sumptuous works were met with an ever-increasing level of acclaim - lauded for both their precise draughtsmanship and superior approach to colouring. Described as “so true to nature as to excite the admiration of all”, they had the critics in raptures.
Here in this work from around 1870, he’s brilliantly captured the curved reflection of a window in a roemer (or rummer), with its studded ‘prunts’ and coiled stem. It stands on a carved wooden ledge alongside cobnuts, raspberries, black grapes, and a leaf. There’s a similar composition in the collection at Touchstones Rochdale. While another sold for 36,000 CHF (£30,000) at a Swiss auction in 1997.
At around the same time, he provided lessons to a small number of local students including Ellen Maria Levett (1853-1912) who would become his second wife and worked in a similar style.
Edward Ladell is represented in numerous public collections including at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Bristol City Art Gallery. For comparison, over 70 works are listed at Christie's.
Monogrammed in the lower left and held within a gilt frame.
Learn more about Edward Ladell in our directory.
Medium: Oil on canvas
Overall size: 18½” x 16½” / 47cm x 42cm
Year of creation: c. 1870
Labels & Inscriptions: Bears a Frost & Reed label on the reverse.
Provenance: Frost & Reed, London / Private collection, UK.
Condition: Assessed and approved by our conservator. Cleaned. Revarnished. Canvas relined. Fine and settled craquelure, as you would expect. The paint layer is stable.
Artist’s auction maximum: £49,250 for ‘Still Life With Peaches, Plums, Grapes And Walnuts On A Carved Table With A Wine Glass’, Oil on canvas, Sotheby's, Victorian & Edwardian Art (Sale L08131), London, 2008 (lot 66).
Our reference: BRV1880
