A single owner collection of paintings by acclaimed British artist Charles Frederick Tunnicliffe R.A. (1901-1979) will be among the star lots at Trevanion Auctioneers’ September auction.
The collection was assembled by Tom and Molly Forshaw, an Anglesey farming couple who were friends and neighbours with Tunnicliffe for more than twenty-five years. Many of the works depict Tom’s fancy pigeons, a subject which fascinated Tunnicliffe, but the relationship began with an exchange of letters about a landscape. ‘Tom first began writing to Tunnicliffe about painting a view of Anglesey’s Red Wharf Bay in 1953,’ notes fine art valuer Simon Grover. ‘Tunnicliffe found the vast view challenging, and struggled to start work on the piece. The pair exchanged letters about how it should be painted for the next twenty years, with Tunnicliffe’s letters initially beginning ‘Dear Mr Forshaw’, before evolving into a cheery ‘Dear Tom’’. The painting was finally completed at some point in the 1970s and will be offered in the auction together with Tunnicliffe’s letters to Tom on the subject, with an estimate of £1000 to £2000.
Another painting that was the subject of correspondence between the pair depicts Tom’s Fantail and Jacobin pigeons perched on a wall. ‘Charles wrote to Tom in December 1959 noting that this painting had been used on the cover of PIGEON & PIGEON WORLD magazine,’ says Simon. ‘Tom and Charles were both passionate pigeon fanciers, and Tom often provided birds from his loft for Charles to study and paint, so he must have been pleased when Charles reported that the magazine cover had ‘turned out reasonably well’’. The watercolour will be offered for sale with an estimate of £800 to £1200, and again Tunnicliffe’s letter will be included.
The collection also provides a fascinating insight into Tunnicliffe’s creative process. An oil painting depicting a group of eight fancy pigeons with rhododendrons beyond (estimate £3000 to £5000), will be offered with a pen and ink preparatory sketch for the work noting the name of each breed depicted; while another lot will include a quantity of hand annotated pigeon sketches, most drawn in pencil on tracing paper, but also some watercolour sketches and scraperboards, each made by Charles from photographic slides taken by Tom and included in the lot (estimate £100 to £200).
Two of the most poignant works in the collection must be ‘Friesian Cows – Wern Farm’, an oil painting depicting an aging Tom at work herding his cattle across his beloved farm on Anglesey (estimate £2000 to £3000), and a watercolour depicting four of Tom’s pigeons which he’d given to his grandson Nick. ‘This painting was commissioned by Molly Forshaw as an eighteenth birthday present for Nick’, says Simon. ‘He turned eighteen in 1979, and this is almost certainly the last painting Tunnicliffe made before he died.’ The watercolour will be offered with an estimate of £800 to £1200.
The collection will be auctioned by Trevanion Auctioneers on Wednesday 3rd September. The online catalogue will be available at www.trevanion.com from Thursday 21st August. For all enquiries please call 01948 800202.
