Nelson & His World

A cousin drew my attention to a copy of the Pickersgill portrait of Sir Alexander John Ball, oil on canvas, 24” x 36” on ebay for $24 + $44 postage.

Amongst 1312 copies of various works of art I singled out the following:

Four popular portraits of Nelson i.e. the Rigaud, the Guzzardi, the Abbot and one other.

Admirals:
Sir Thomas Allin, Lord George Anson, Sir John Balchen, Sir Alexander Ball, Sir William Berkeley, Sir John Borlase, George Byng, John Byng, Sir George Cockburn, Richard Edwards, George Keith Elphinstone, Clark Gayton, Sir Francis Geary, Sir Thomas Graves, Sir Charles Hardy, Sir John Harman, Edward Hawke, Francis Holburne & son, Samuel Hood, Sir John Jennings, John Jervis, Sir Joseph Jordan, Richard Kempenfelt, Augustus Keppel, Fitzroy Henry Lee, Thomas Matthews, Adml Horatio Nelson, Lord Nelson, Sir John Norris, William Parry, Sir William Penn, George Brydges Rodney, Sir George Rooke, Edward Russell, Commodore Thomas Smith, Sir Edward Thornborou, Sir Thomas Teddeman, Sir Thomas Troubridge, Richard Tyrrell, Sir Charles Wagner, Sir Peter Warren.

Captains:
Sir William Abdy, Phillip Affleck, Samuel Barrington, Frederick William Beechey, John Bentinck & son, Richard Chadwick, Sir George Ralph Collier, James Cook, Frederick Cornewall, George Edgcombe, Alexander Hood, Sir Henry Hughes, Robert Man, Sir George Montague, Capt Horatio Nelson, James Newman-Newman, Henry Osborn, Hugh Palliser, Sir Richard Pearson, Constantine John Phillips, John Reynolds, Arthur Scott, Sir Alexander Schomberg, Sir Walter Sterling, Sir Edward Vernon.

Battle of Nile
Emma Hart as Ariadne

Has anyone had any experience with this type of transaction especially as to the quality and of course the legality &c.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... EF:US:1123

I'm sure many people have had successful transactions with Chinese suppliers on ebay. However, family members have had bad experiences (films with a Chinese soundtrack!) and the community discussion boards on ebay occasionally report disappointment with quality - though maybe these stand out because they are Chinese. Looking at the feedback score for this particular supplier, I see on the first page that there are complaints about quality. The stars for shipping, packing etc. are also not top-notch.

I'd be inclined to pass on this.

I had a very good experience with a Chinese supplier - I bought a dress for a wedding reception and was able to track its journey across the world - it arrived in less than a week - was a genuine Karen Millen (apologies to all the men on this site, probably thinking 'who's Karen Millen?'!) and cost less than £50 all in. (I suspect it was a 'second' with a minimal, undetectable fault).

However, this offer seems different - are they seriously saying that the painting will be a real, hand-painted copy? And for about £100 altogether? I can't quite believe this! It all sounds a bit weird.

Caitlin

I am wondering that with so many Admirals and Captains on offer that they are painted to order. The pictures depicted on Ebay appear to be photographs of the originals so there is no way of telling the standard of draughtmanship of a copy.
Caitlin, the total price works out at £50 which is fantastic for a 2ft x 3ft oil on canvas but . . .

Yes, sorry - I checked again and saw that the price would work out even cheaper than I quoted - I thought it was about $60 plus the delivery. But, no, £50 sounds even more suspicious, doesn't it?

Caitlin

The seller has a very good customer rating - 99.5% - but one negative and a few neutrals. I took a look through them and they are generally just saying that the quality was poorer than expected.

Having said that there have been times in my life when I would have thrown 50 quid at something like this just for the heck of it. But I'm supposed to be economising at the moment so had better resist the temptation.

But if anyone out there has a premium bond come up . . . . . . . !!

Now for something really funny.

For a fleeting second it entered my head that a Chinese artist might have difficulty painting Western faces. But then slapped my wrist and decided that that was unnecessary negative sterotyping.

Then as I was looking through the customer comments I spotted the following:

"Can see James Cook's slightly oriental heritage. Hilarious and worth it."

Now I really want to see HN.

MB

PS Caitlin. Pretty sure it was Karen Millen that used to have a shop on New Street in Brum. Whenever I went past I was knocked out by the stunning clothes they used to have in their window displays. Not for me I must add!!

I think the minimum wage in most parts of China is still less than £1 an hour, so that may explain the price, but perhaps you shouldn't expect too many hours work for that price!

Well, watch this space, as yesterday I purchased the Admiral Sir Alexander John Ball painting for £48 and it seemed to be the only copy as it is now deleted from the site.

The oil painting on canvas of Admiral Sir Alexander John Ball duly arrived in its 2” plastic wastepipe tube case from the highland interior of China. Expecting the worst as it was gingerly unrolled and taking in the heady aroma of fresh linseed oil whilst struggling to reach for my sunglasses; a fresh-looking young Alexander stared at me through his—yes you were right Mark—slightly oriental eyes!
As to Tony’s comment of £1 an hour; the painting cost £16 which means a competent pot-boiler artist could knock one up in under a couple of days and still make a profit especially by leaving out the finer detail.
I have seen much worse images in Malta where in AJB’s time, many households had his portrait on display. A quote from Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “During my residence there [Malta] I had the honour of being his [Ball] constant, and most often, his only companion in these rides; to which I owe some of the happiest and most instructive hours of my life. In the poorest home of the most distant casal [country town] two rude paintings were to be found: A picture of the Virgin and Child; and a portrait of Sir Alexander Ball.”
I will now make a stretcher frame and mount the canvas perfectly taut to match his perfect skin before attempting to apply a dulling coat so that I can remove these shades that I am wearing!!
I am glad I went through the exercise but certainly wouldn’t again.
Anyway, view for yourselves below with the original on the left although the copy on the right is brighter than viewed here.

Ed

I think you have done really well.

I can just imagine your trepidation as you unrolled it - but from the photograph you have shown I would say that is a VERY competent reproduction.

I bet you get far more than £48 worth of pleasure from it over the coming years. You will never be short of a "conversation piece"!!

And I had no idea that AJB's portrait was hanging in all those houses in Malta. That is something brand new I have learnt today.

Well done for going through this process.

MB

Ed:

I think you've done really well there!

I note that Ball's eyes are brown on the original and blue on the reproduction. Do you know the real colour of his eyes? is this a case of blue paint on the original fading as it is wont to do?

Or maybe a Chinese assumption that all westerners have blue eyes?