Colour Calotype print of a portrait of Lord Dewar by Sir William Orpen K.B.E., R.A., R.I., R.H.A. (1878-1931).
Lot: 169 at Whyte’s Timed Auction. Closes Monday 17 October from 6 pm.
Colotype print on cream-wove paper; (unframed). Signed lower right, inscribed with title lower centre and signed by printer on lower left [H. Macbeth Raeburn, Colour].
18.50 by 14.75 inches (47 by 37.5cm)
Sheet size: 26.75 by 20.25 inches.
Estimate: €500-€700 (£440-£610 approx.) NOT SOLD.
VIEWING: At our galleries, Whyte’s 38 Molesworth Street, Dublin.
Wednesday to Friday 12-14 October, from 10 am to 5 pm.
Saturday 15 October, 1 pm to 5 pm.
Monday 17 October, 10 am to 5 pm.
Lord Dewar paid Sir William Orpen £1500 for the original painting which was exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, in 1925.
Thomas Robert “Tommy” Dewar, 1st Baron Dewar (6 January 1864-11 April 1930) was a Scottish whisky distiller who, along with his brother John Dewar, built their family label, Dewar’s, into an international success. He was born in 1864 in Perth, Scotland. The son of John Dewar, Sr., he was exposed at a very young age to the spirit industry in Scotland as his father founded John Dewar & Sons, Ltd. He earned his education in Perth, as well as in Edinburgh, and he soon realised that farming was not his calling. After his father’s death, he worked with his brother John to continue and grow their family’s brand. Gifted with charisma, Dewar was able to expand his father’s business on a global scale.
Lord Dewar became involved in Thoroughbred horse racing as an owner and breeder. His stud at Homestall is best known for two significant horses: Challenger and Cameronian. Challenger foaled 1927, whom Dewar bred and raced at age two but who then was sold to American interests after his death. The stallion went on to become the Leading sire in North America in 1939. Bred by Dewar and foaled in 1928, Cameronian won the 1931 Epsom Derby and 2,000 Guineas Stakes.
Dewar was knighted in 1902, created a baronet, of Homestall Manor in the Parish of East Grinstead in the County of East Sussex, in 1917, and raised to the peerage as Baron Dewar, of Homestall in the County of Sussex, in 1919. However, as he never married the baronetcy and barony became extinct on his death, at Homestall, in April 1930, aged sixty-six, following which he was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium.
Some of the text is from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Dewar,_1st_Baron_Dewar
https://whytes.auctioneersvault.com/catalogues/20221017/172/index.html
Post by Dominic Lee, Orpen Research Archives.
See also: