Lot 3 GEORGE MULLINS (FL. 1756 - C.1798)
Title: Animated River Landscape, Homestead and Castle Beyond
Medium: Oil on canvas
Signature: Unsigned
Provenance: Frost & Reed, London, Stock No. 8592 (Label Verso);
Galeria Moody, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Circa 1945;
Monica Zajac de Dobry, Buenos Aires, Argentina;
Gorry Gallery, Dublin;
Private Collection
Exhibited: Gorry Gallery, Dublin, 'An Exhibition of 18th - 21st Century Irish Paintings',
1 - 19 November, 2021, Catalogue No. 12
Framed
On the banks of a lake, surrounded by trees and country roads, a small group of people are engaged in conversation, with one man pointing towards a tall thatched circular building—perhaps a dovecot, or toll house. The building is dilapidated, with thatch missing in some
places, exposing the rafters underneath. Beside the group, a rustic footbridge spans a small river. Cattle are gathered by the lake edge and a figure can be seen walking along a road that curves out of sight. On the far side of the lake are the silhouettes of buildings, while in the distance rises a tall mountain. In spite of such details, many drawn from life, the scene is likely an imagined view—a lá Claude Lorrain or Vernet—rather than a depiction of an actual landscape, and is reminiscent of the work of John Butts and Nathaniel Grogan. In terms
of composition, this work is in some ways a mirror image of a recently re-discovered Mullins, sold at Sothebys in November 2020, 'A River Landscape with a Group of Figures by a Waterfall, with Classical Ruins, An Irish Round - Tower and a Mountain Beyond' . One of the finest of these idealised landscapes by Mullins is his 1772 Fishing Party, in the
Ashmolean Museum.
In spite of the evident high quality of his work, the biographical details known of George Mullins are scant. Around 1756 he was a student of James Mannin at the Dublin Society Schools. He was later, in 1763 and 1768, awarded prizes by the Dublin Society. Moving to
Waterford, Mullins worked as a decorative painter for the merchant Thomas Wyse, whose factory at St. John's in the city produced japanned, or lacquered, trays, tea caddies and snuff boxes. Returning to Dublin, Mullins married a woman who ran a tavern in Temple Bar called the Horseshoe and Magpie. Also known as the Pigeon and Pattern, it was a gathering place for artists and theatre people, and was later described by Joseph Boucher as a 'celebrated temple of nocturnal entertainment and festivity'. The sister of Mullins's wife married the painter Hugh Douglas Hamilton (also a pupil of Mannin), while the artists Robert Healy and Thomas Roberts lodged at the tavern, with Roberts serving his apprenticeship with Mullins. Giving the tavern as his address, Mullins first exhibited at the Society of Artists in 1765, and continued to send works to the City Assembly House exhibitions over the next four years. In addition to views of landscapes such as Lough Erne and Leixlip, he also painted subjects taken from the Old Testament. In 1758 he painted four large canvases, depicting morning, noon, evening and night, for Lord Charlemont's country house at Marino. In 1770 he moved to London, and that same year showed 'View from the temple at Marino' at the Royal Academy. He lived for a time with Robert Carver, while continuing to show at the Royal Academy over the next four years, his work being admired by Horace Walpole. He also worked on a decorative paintings for Chirk Castle in North Wales. In 1772 his painting of a Spaniel dog was published as a mezzotint, with Mullins himself having worked on the plate, while his 'Portrait of a beggar in Wales', exhibited at the RA in 1773, was included in a Sheppards Auction in 2021. Although Mullins was an influential artist in eighteenth century Ireland, known works by him are rare.
Dr. Peter Murray,
February 2026
€10000 - 15000
Image: 68.5 x 91 cm.; Framed: 86 x 109 cm. (approx.)
Tuesday 24th February 2026
18:01:12
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