Lot 9 ROSE MAYNARD BARTON RWS (1856 - 1929)
Title: Lord Edward Street with Christ Church Cathedral in the Distance, Dublin (C. 1897)
Medium: Watercolour
Signature: Signed Lower Right
Provenance: The Collection of Robert Crewe - Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe, Crewe Hall;
Mary Innes - Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe, West Horsley Place, Surrey;
Her Estate Sale, Sotheby's, London, 27 May, 2015, Lot 292;
Private Collection
Literature: Crewe House, London, Inventory, Vol. 2, 1913, P. 56, in Lord Crewe's Study
Framed
When sold at Sothebys in May 2015, as part of the collection of the Duchess of Roxburghe, this atmospheric watercolour by Rose Barton was identified simply as 'A Street Scene'. In fact, the view depicts Lord Edward Street in Dublin, with the spire of Christ Church in the
distance. The thoroughfare is busy with pedestrians, while a sidecar approaches, following the tram tracks. To the right can be seen the Working Boys Home and Harding Institute, while on the left is the neo-classical Newcomen Bank. The spire on the tower of Christ Church would have been relatively new when Barton painted the view, having been added during the 1870's restoration. Equally, the Harding Institute, built in 1892, was a recent addition to the
streetscape. This work can be related to Barton's 1897 watercolour Going to the Levée at Dublin Castle, which is in the National Gallery of Ireland, with both paintings taking the junction of Lord Edward Street and Cork Hill as their viewpoint. Although the View of Lord
Edward Street was not reproduced in Frances Gerard's 1898 book Picturesque Dublin Old and New, which contains illustrations by Barton, on page 127 a view by her, Narrow Lane, with a Peep of Christ Church, depicts the same spire.
The daughter of a successful Tipperary lawyer—and a cousin of Edith Somerville, and the Hamilton sisters - Rose Barton was born in Dublin in 1856. Her mother was from the Martin family of Co. Galway. Barton was privately educated, and after the death of her father in 1874, travelled to Brussels with her mother and sister. She studied art under Henri Gervex, along with her friend Mildred Anne Butler. Both artists also studied in London, under Paul Jacob Naftel, quickly developing their skills as watercolour painters. They were part of an gifted group of Irish artists who specialised in this medium in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Barton first showed at the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1878, and two years later at the Dudley Gallery in London. Over the following decade she had exhibitions in both London and Dublin. Elected an associate member of the Society Women Artists by 1886, seven years later she became an associate of the Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colour (RWS), and a full member in 1911. In 1903, she settled in Knightsbridge, painting many views of the streetscapes and buildings of London. These were reproduced the following year in Familiar London, a book she both wrote and illustrated. Also in 1904 she was represented in the exhibition of Irish art curated by Sir Hugh Lane at the Guildhall in London. Although many of Barton's watercolours of Dublin depict scenes such as the Old Parliament building, the Viceregal Lodge, Dublin Castle and Charlemont House, she invested these views with an ethereal quality, shrouded in fog, or silhouetted against evening skies. She also sought out lesser-known laneways, delighting in their literary or historical associations. Rose Barton died in London on 10 October, 1929.
Dr. Peter Murray,
February 2026
€5000 - 8000
Image: 15 x 11 cm. Framed: 37 x 32 cm. (approx.)
Tuesday 24th February 2026
18:04:48
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