Congratulation to Adam Busiakiewicz for noticing the following painting at the Towneley. I suspect he forgets more of his discoveries than most of us make, and this is just one of many, made in recent months, trawling through archives and catalogues, reassembling the fragmented oeuvre of Emma Soyer (1809-1842).
The painting was acquired by the Towneley in 1951 with an attribution to Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (1802-1873). More recently it was downgraded to in his style, which is a reasonable enough description. Soyer and Landseer lived parallel lives. Both were child prodigies, exhibiting their first works at the Royal Academy around the age of 13. Both excelled in painting animals. Landseer lived for seven decades, Soyer for just three.
Soyer’s Philanthrophic Gallery 1848
Two years before he was knighted in 1850, Landseer attended Soyer’s Philanthropic Exhibition of 1848, a retrospective organised by husband Alexis, which brought together 136 of her pictures at the “Cosmorana Rooms” on 209 Regent Street. It is possible that he saw the Towneley painting. Certainly it was still owned by Alexis Soyer before its sale at Christie’s in 1859. It also seems to appear in John Tarring’s view of the Reform Club Kitchen (1842), where a handful of paintings can be seen at the back of the kitchen.
The Kitchen Department of the Reform Club, lithograph by John Tarring 1842 - Courtesy Forum Auctions
Notice Alexis Soyer in the foreground. He served as the head chef of the Reform Club from 1837 to 1850.
Lot 116 “Girl Nursing a Skye Terrier”
Sold to “Cross” for £7, 7 shillings
In stylistic terms it compares to “Two Inseparables.” and to “The Escape”, both exhibited in 1837. Compare the knee showing through the boy’s trousers.