Edward Duncan Cricket Brochure by Masterart

MACCONNAL-MASON

EDWARDDUNCAN,RWS

1803-1882

AvillagecricketmatchinKent

Inscribedtwice‘39

Oilonpanel 17x28in–43.2x71.1cm

Framesize 23x34in–58.4x86.4cm

Provenance: Privatecollection,UK,sincepre-1920

Literature:

TheIllustratedLondonNews,22June1850,p.442,illustratedp.441

EST.1893

AvillagecricketmatchinKent

EdwardDuncanhaschosentopaint onalarge,pinewoodpanel.Someartistshadbecomeaccustomedto paintingonwood,despitetherepeal in1831ofthetaxthat hadbeenchargedonartist’scanvas, andpanel gessoed with a blend of rabbit glue and powdered chalkgave the artist an even, opaque surface on which to work.

Thepaintinghadremainedinthesame familyfor overacenturyand,asaresult, overtheyearsthe varnishhaddiscolouredowingtoage,theabortion ofgrime,soot,tobaccosmoke andatmospheric pollution.Inpointoffact,the paintinghadat leastfourlayersof varnish,eachappliedover thepreviouscoat,sealing inageneration of discolorationandgrimeoneach occasion.This explainsthetransformationseen(fig.1)following thecarefulremovalofthelayers ofoldvarnish, thepaintingandpigmentsrestoredto theartist’s originalvision ofhow thepainting wouldbe viewed.

Thepaintingisdated’39,anditwason22ndJune1850 thatthewoodengravingofthissubjectwaspublishedin TheIllustratedLondonNews. Thereareotherinstancesof Duncanpaintingasubjectthatwasengravedforuseinthe paper,‘PheasantShooting’,5thOctober1850(fig.2).Another earlierversionofthisworkcanbeseeninYaleCenterfor BritishArt(fig.3).Duncanwasoneofanumberofhighly regardedartistsemployedby TheIllustratedLondonNews, and itssuccesslayinthenatureandqualityoftheseillustrations.

Fig.1Duringtherestorationprocess Fig.2EdwardDuncan, PheasantShooting, IllustratedLondonNews,5thOctober1850,p.1

Theillustrationofourpaintingasitappearsinthe paperisdescribedas:“Kenthaseverrankedfirstamongour countiesforitscricketers;andfromoneof itsnoblestdomainshas ourartistpicturedthegameintheaccompanyingillustration”. Thelocationremainssomethingofamystery.Despitethe description,Hambledonhasbeensuggestedgiventhenature ofthesurroundinglandscape,ashasbeenCanterburywithits limetreewithintheconfinesoftheground,sadlynolonger there.AnothersuggestionisWestMalling,alsoinKent, whereTownMallingplayed,theclubforwhichtherenowned FullerPilchplayed,nowknownastheOldCountyGround.

Thereareanumberofdiscrepanciesbetweenthepaintingand engraving, the most notable being the addition of a church spire, possiblytoreinforcethenarrative thatthesubjectisa groundin Kent,andalludingtothefactthatitisperhapsCanterbury,or WestMalling, the latter village having a church with a similar spire.

DuncanpaintedandsketchedinKentthroughoutthe first halfofhiscareer,particularlyKnolePark, PenshurstandTonbridge.

Forthepurposesofthepaper,Duncan hasportrayedagenericcricketmatch,a gamethatcouldhavebeen played at Hambledon, in Kent, or in any village across the country, such was the game’s widespread popularity; however, as described in the paper and by previous writers, the history of the game has its roots in the villages of the Weald.Duncan has depicted a match at a seminal moment, the batsman facing a bowler, bowling roundarm, atthepointofdeliveryhishandbelow thelevelofhisshoulder,thebatsmanin positiontoexecuteastroke known as ‘the home block’ (note 1).The fielders are alert, dressed in trousers, fashionable from the mid-1830’s, butdenouncedbysome as‘unbecomingandinconvenient’. Inhisrenderingof thewicketwiththree stumps and a bail, the artist’s alterations can be seen in the ‘pentimenti’, the vague outline of his original positioning of thestumps subsequentlycorrected toalign withthe farwicket.Thereis afair sizedcrowd assembledbeneath thetwo commandingoaks andaround themarquee, acommon sightat matches,refreshments andgaming for thegentry.Theportrayalofthemassof figures resemblesDuncan’srenderingofcrowdsinhis ‘TheLaying of aFoundationStone,BirkenheadDocks,Wirral’,1845, (fig.4),WalkerArtGallery,Liverpool.Nopreparatory sketches for this work are recorded;however, in one of the three sales at Christies of Edward Duncan’s estate, on11th March1885, severalalbums weresold thatincluded sketchesfor worksfor TheIllustrated LondonNews.

Note(1): Felix,NicholasWanostrocht, Felixonthebat,ascientificinquiryintotheuseofthecricketbat, published1845,BailyBrothers,London,Cornhill

Fig.3EdwardDuncan, PheasantShooting, ©YaleCentreforBritishArt Fig.5EdwardDuncan, Acricketmatch IllustratedLondonNews,22ndJune1850,p.441 Fig.4EdwardDuncan, LayingtheFoundationStoneof BirkenheadDocks,1845 ©WalkerArtGallery

EdwardDuncan wasrenownedasa painterofsportingsubjectsandlandscapes inoil,andofwatercolours,largelycoastal scenes.Asawoodengraverandillustrator heworkedextensivelyfor TheIllustrated LondonNews providingillustrationsof Shootingscenes,asseenin(fig.2)and ‘Acricketmatch’on22ndJune1850(fig.5).

TheIllustratedLondonNews wastheworld’s firstfullyillustratednewspaper.Itwasfoundedby HerbertIngram(1811-1860),whohadsetupaprintingandnewsagentsinNottinghaminthe 1830’sand,havingseenthatillustratedpapersweremarkedlymorepopular,hadresolvedtosetup afullyillustratedpaper,publishingthe firstissueof TheIllustratedLondonNews on14thMay1842.

WiththeadventofnewsbeingtransmittedtelegraphicallyIngramwasabletocoverstoriesworldwide. The firstissueincludednewsofthewarinAfghanistan,atraincrashinFranceandafancydresspartyat BuckinghamPalace,allaccompaniedbyillustrations.Anon-partisanpaper,althoughIngramwastobecome LiberalMPforBoston,itwas firmlyaimedatthegrowingmiddleclassaudience.Thecirculationgrewfrom 65,000copiesaweekto300,000copiesby1863,atwhichdateTheTimessold70,000.Thepapersettledon amixofbothmainstreamandeclecticworldnews,science,art,culture,politicsandtheRoyalfamily.Ingram employedleadingartistsofthedaytoprovideillustrationstothesestories,andwithadvertisingrevenuethe paperbecameextraordinarilysuccessfulenablingittocommissiontheforemostartistsandwritersoftheday. EdwardDuncanwasoneoftheseartiststobecommissionedbythepaper,alongwithMylesBirketFoster, RichardCatonWoodville,SirJohnGilbert,GeorgeCruikshankandE.H.Shepherd.Literarycontributors included Thomas Hardy, Robert Louis Stevenson, Rudyard Kipling, Wilkie Collins and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

In TheIllustratedLondonNews editionof5thOctober1850,theillustrationof‘Acricketmatch’(fig.5)by EdwardDuncanprovidedthecontextforanarticleoncricket:

Cricket

Bythemid-19thCenturycrickethadbecomeanationalsportwithmatchesbetweenvillages,countyteams andanAllEnglandteaminSussexplayedfor‘50guineasapiece’.

CrickethaddevelopedoutofanynumberofgamesplayedwithaballandstickintheMiddleAges.Oneof theearliestreferencestothe gamebeingplayedwasc.1550, whenJohnDenwick,acounty coroner,referredto an area of land where as a scholar at the Guildford Free School “he and several of his fellows did run and play there at cricketandotherplaies”.In1598‘cricket’appearsinJohnFlorio’sItalian-Englishdictionary,hedefinestheverb ‘sgrillare’as‘tomakeanoiseasacricket,toplaycricket-a-wicket,andbemerry’;andinalessmerrymodein 1611 in the Sussex village of Sidlesham two men were prosecuted for playing cricket instead of going to church.

CricketcontinuedtobeplayedinvillagesprimarilyinthecountiesofKent,Sussex,Surreyand Hampshire,but,followingtherestorationofthemonarchyin1660,wasplayedmorewidelyand withagreaterinvolvementofthelandedgentryandaristocracy,whichinturnledtopatronageand gambling.In1696itwasreportedthatamatchtookplaceinSussexplayedfor‘50guineasapiece’.

Thepopularityofthegamegrewexponentiallyinthe18thCentury,playedinvillagesandoncountryestates. In1744Kentv.AllEnglandwaswatchedbyalargecrowd,amongthemthePrinceofWalesandDukeof Cumberland.InLondon,thearistocracyandgentrywishedtowatchcricketwhenintown,andtheArtillery GroundinFinsburywasapopularvenuewithgamesattractingcrowdsof‘sixandseventhousand’;other favouredgroundsincludedMaryleboneFields,WhiteConduitStreetandLambsConduitStreet.TheEarlof Sandwich,in1751captainedOldEtoniansv.AllEngland,playedfor£1500withmanysidebets,andwasa keenfollowerofthegame,somuchsothathewrote“I’llatyourBoard(theAdmiralty)whenatleisurefromcricket”.

Manyofthegentryemployedleadingcricketersinsomecapacityontheirestatestosecuretheirservicesand denyothers.SirHoraceMannwasagreatpatronofKent,hostingKentv.HantsatBishopsbournePaddock in1772,watchedbytwentythousand,andtheSackvillesofKnolewerealsoamongthegreatestpatronsof Kent with games played at Sevenoaks and Knole Park. This aristocratic patronage was not confined to watching andgambling.Intheyearsofthefollowingcentury,TheReverendLordFrederickBeauclerkclaimedto earn‘sixhundredguineasayear’fromcricket,bothbattingandbowlingagainstthebestoftheprofessionals.

PriortotheformationoftheMCCandLordscricketgroundinDorsetSquare, Hambledon,avillagein Hampshirehadbeenthe‘cradleofcricket’drawingplayersfromthesurroundingareaswithRichard Nyren,innkeeperoftheBatandBall,atitsheart.ThevillageplayedcountiesandAllEngland,asoften asnottriumphant,withLumpyStevens,TomSueterandDavidHarrisamongtheforemostplayers.

The laws of cricket had been drawn up in 1744 by the Star and Garter Club, the members of which formed the MCC at Lords in 1787, and were amended in 1774 to allow for a third stump, lbw, and a maximum width of the bat of four and one half inches.Bowling was all underarm and fast, and the bat curved, but with the advent of bowlerspitchingtheball thestraightbatwas introduced.Withtheintroduction ofasecondwicket camea secondumpireusually foundata legslipposition. Thefastunderarm bowlinggaveway topitchedbowling, stillunderarm,but,tocounter this,battingevolvedwiththe batsmanadvancingdownthepitch, andbatting averagesrose.Asearlyas 1806bowlershad soughtanadvantage, thelawsstated thatthehand hadto bebelow theelbow whendelivering theball, morepace andbounce couldbe generatedbowling roundarm, andbowlers wouldstretch thelimits aidedby acquiescentumpires untilthe opposition protested.Itwas onlyin 1835with thenew stylebowling beingpractised andadvocated bythe great WilliamLillywhite thatthe MCCaltered thelaw to“The ballmust bebowled andif itbe thrownjerked orif thehand beabove theshoulder inthe delivery,the umpiremust call‘No Ball’ ”.Theacrimony thiscaused inthe MCCwas inpart explainedby thefact ofbatsmen outnumberingbowlers inthe hierarchy.

Cricket continued to expand.It became more widely played and watched in London and, with the encroachment ofdevelopmentinthecity, inthecounties.TheReverendJohnMitford,a keencricketerandeditorof Gentleman’sMagazinec.1820wrote“Kenthasalwaysstoodproudly pre-eminent;Kentisemphaticallythefield of the cricketers’glory”.Othercountieswouldlayclaim asthegame’sappealgrew.Books,printsandlithographs werepublished,andtheforemostplayers,GeorgeParr, WilliamClarke,FullerPilch,WilliamCaffyn,William BeldhamofFarnham, AlfredMynnthe fastbowlerand WilliamLillywhitebecamehousehold names.

Bibliography:

DerekBirley: ASocialHistoryof EnglishCricket,publishedAurum1999

H.S.AlthamandE.W.Swanton: AHistoryof Cricket, publishedGeorgeAllenandUnwin,1926

BorninSt. Pancras,Londonon 21stOctober1803,EdwardDuncan wastheson ofThomasDuncan (1781-1841)andPeggy, neéWatson. Hewas apprenticedto RobertHavell (1793-1878),a painterand alsothe foremostengraver inaquatint, whowith hisfather, also Robert,engraved allbut tenplates ofAudubon’s Birdsof America. Followinghisapprenticeship Duncansetup hisownengraving studio producingprints for,among others,the publisherSamuel Foresof Piccadilly.

In1835 hemarried Berthia,the daughterof WilliamJ. Huggins(1781-1845), amarinepaintertobothGeorgeIV andWilliamIV,underwhoseinfluence Duncanincludedmarinepaintings,specificallycoastalscenes,to hisoeuvre.

Asapainter in oils,Duncanpainted shooting scenes, landscapes and coastal subjects,andofcourse ‘Avillage cricketmatch’.Healso receivedan important commissiontoportray‘The Layingof aFoundationStone,BirkenheadDocks, Wirral’,(fig.6),nowin thecollectionofWilliamson ArtGalleryandMuseum.

DuncanexhibitedattheRoyalAcademybetween1846 and1873andwaselectedamemberoftheNewSociety ofPaintersinWatercolourin1833,andoftheRoyal WatercolourSocietyin1850.

Inhislatteryearshespentalmosteverysummerpainting coastalscenesinSouthWales,ontheGowerPeninsular. HediedinHampstead,London,on11thApril1882.

Hehadsevenchildren,oneofwhom,WalterDuncan, followedinhisfather’sfootsteps, being elected Associate oftheRoyalWatercolourSocietyin1874.

Fig.6EdwardDuncan

14&17DukeStreet,St.James’s,LondonSW1Y6DB

macconnal-mason.com|fineart@macconnal-mason.com|+44(0)2078397693

EdwardDuncan(1803-1882) PortraitofEdwardDuncanby FerdinandJeandelaFertéJoubert NationalPortraitGallery