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Lot Essay
In 1816, Blair Leighton's Academy exhibit of 1895, depicts the jubilant return of the victorious Royal Scots Greys from Waterloo. The regiment (also known as the 2nd Regiment of Dragoons or Royal North British) comprised part of Major General Ponsonby's Union Brigade, alongside the 1st Royal Dragoons and 6th Inniskilling Dragoons. Bolstered at their rear by the 92nd Highlanders, the Greys led a decisive charge upon the French infantry, accompanied by cries of 'Scotland forever!' (The title of Lady Elizabeth Butler's famous rendition of the same scene). Sergeant Charles Ewart of the Greys swiped the French eagle -- the equivalent of the British Regimental Colour -- cutting down the bearer and his four-man entourage. The captured French eagle was henceforth adopted as the Greys' insignia; it is still the badge of their present-day equivalent: the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. Napoleon is said to have mused upon: 'ces terribles chevaux gris'; the British Army christened the Greys 'bird catchers'.
Blair Leighton's historical and literary genre images enjoyed immense popularity at the beginning of the twentieth century, combining romance with attention to historical detail. Here he employs a characteristically clever compositional device, positioning the viewer opposite bystanders on an adjoining balcony. The distant facade identifies the location as Fitzroy Square. We look towards the east side. Developed by the 1st Baron of Southampton, Fitzroy Square was named after his grandfather, Charles Fitzroy, second Duke of Grafton. The east and south sides were built in the 1790s; the west/north sides were added in 1829.
Blair Leighton depicts the regiment in their red wool jackets adorned with a distinctive panel of four verticle stripes; white-buff cross belts (where cartridge boxes were hung) cut a diagonal across their bodies. The 'Greys' ride horses of that colour, as was their wont. British ensigns -- including the Union Jack and St George's flag -- line the streets.
Blair Leighton added certain minutiae -- such as the gas lamp holders -- after the Academy exhibition (they are missing from the Royal Academy Pictures image). This was ordinary practice; artists could frequently be spotted altering their canvases on varnishing day.
In his monograph on the artist in the 1900 edition of the Art Journal, Fred Miller noted 'the charm with which these figures and the little boy are painted ... an admirable example of Mr. Blair Leighton's art'. The younger women wear Empire-line dresses; this elegant fashion -- accredited to Empress Josephine -- only became current in England after the Napoleonic wars when Parisian fashions had filtered across the channel.
In 1895 England was enjoying her status as a land of Empire, but trouble was unappeased in the African colonies; this would come to a head in the second Boer War of 1899-1902, and Fred Miller commented retrospectively that Blair Leighton's image 'has an appositeness ... when we have a war of greater magnitude on hand [and] consider the sending of 200,000 men 7,000 miles'.
We are grateful to Mark Bills from the Museum of London and Pip Dodd from the National Army Museum for their help with this catalogue entry.
Blair Leighton's historical and literary genre images enjoyed immense popularity at the beginning of the twentieth century, combining romance with attention to historical detail. Here he employs a characteristically clever compositional device, positioning the viewer opposite bystanders on an adjoining balcony. The distant facade identifies the location as Fitzroy Square. We look towards the east side. Developed by the 1st Baron of Southampton, Fitzroy Square was named after his grandfather, Charles Fitzroy, second Duke of Grafton. The east and south sides were built in the 1790s; the west/north sides were added in 1829.
Blair Leighton depicts the regiment in their red wool jackets adorned with a distinctive panel of four verticle stripes; white-buff cross belts (where cartridge boxes were hung) cut a diagonal across their bodies. The 'Greys' ride horses of that colour, as was their wont. British ensigns -- including the Union Jack and St George's flag -- line the streets.
Blair Leighton added certain minutiae -- such as the gas lamp holders -- after the Academy exhibition (they are missing from the Royal Academy Pictures image). This was ordinary practice; artists could frequently be spotted altering their canvases on varnishing day.
In his monograph on the artist in the 1900 edition of the Art Journal, Fred Miller noted 'the charm with which these figures and the little boy are painted ... an admirable example of Mr. Blair Leighton's art'. The younger women wear Empire-line dresses; this elegant fashion -- accredited to Empress Josephine -- only became current in England after the Napoleonic wars when Parisian fashions had filtered across the channel.
In 1895 England was enjoying her status as a land of Empire, but trouble was unappeased in the African colonies; this would come to a head in the second Boer War of 1899-1902, and Fred Miller commented retrospectively that Blair Leighton's image 'has an appositeness ... when we have a war of greater magnitude on hand [and] consider the sending of 200,000 men 7,000 miles'.
We are grateful to Mark Bills from the Museum of London and Pip Dodd from the National Army Museum for their help with this catalogue entry.