DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61252#0126
82
THE BRIDGEWATER GALLERY.
of Painters,” induced the Duke of Bridgewater to purchase
the whole as it stood for 43,000/. The pictures, amount-
ing to 305, were then valued separately by Mr. Bryan,
making a total of 72,000/., and from among them the
Duke selected ninety-four of the finest, at the prices at
which they were valued, amounting altogether to 39,000
guineas. The Duke subsequently admitted his nephew,
the Earl Gower, and the Earl of Carlisle, to share his
acquisition, resigning to the former a fourth part, and to
the latter an eighth of the whole number thus acquired.
The exhibition and sale of the rest produced 41,000/.;
consequently, the speculation turned out most profitably;
for the ninety-four pictures, which had been valued at
39,000/., were acquired, in fact, for 2000/. The forty-
seven retained for the Duke of Bridgewater were valued at
23,130/. The recompence was fully merited ; for if these
public-spirited noblemen had not come forward, and, on the
mere chance of not losing by the bargain, purchased and
kept the whole collection together for a time, these treasures
would have been carried out of England, dispersed, or lost,
instead of diffusing an improved taste through the whole
country.*
The Duke of Bridgewater already possessed some fine
pictures, and after the acquisition of his share of the
Orleans Gallery, he continued to add largely to his col-
lection, till his death in 1803, when he left his pic-
tures, valued at 150,000/., to his nephew, George, first
Marquess of Stafford, (afterwards first Duke of Suther-
land.) During the life of this nobleman, the collection,
added to one formed by himself when Earl Gower, was
* In Barry’s works is a paper entitled “ Remarks on the Paintings of the
Orleans Gallery, exhibited 1798, at 88, Pall Mall.” These remarks are mostly
of a technical kind ; more useful to the artist than interesting to the general
reader. Some passages I have extracted and placed in the form of notes ; for
the opinions and criticisms of such a man, whether we subscribe to them or not,
are always valuable and instructive.
THE BRIDGEWATER GALLERY.
of Painters,” induced the Duke of Bridgewater to purchase
the whole as it stood for 43,000/. The pictures, amount-
ing to 305, were then valued separately by Mr. Bryan,
making a total of 72,000/., and from among them the
Duke selected ninety-four of the finest, at the prices at
which they were valued, amounting altogether to 39,000
guineas. The Duke subsequently admitted his nephew,
the Earl Gower, and the Earl of Carlisle, to share his
acquisition, resigning to the former a fourth part, and to
the latter an eighth of the whole number thus acquired.
The exhibition and sale of the rest produced 41,000/.;
consequently, the speculation turned out most profitably;
for the ninety-four pictures, which had been valued at
39,000/., were acquired, in fact, for 2000/. The forty-
seven retained for the Duke of Bridgewater were valued at
23,130/. The recompence was fully merited ; for if these
public-spirited noblemen had not come forward, and, on the
mere chance of not losing by the bargain, purchased and
kept the whole collection together for a time, these treasures
would have been carried out of England, dispersed, or lost,
instead of diffusing an improved taste through the whole
country.*
The Duke of Bridgewater already possessed some fine
pictures, and after the acquisition of his share of the
Orleans Gallery, he continued to add largely to his col-
lection, till his death in 1803, when he left his pic-
tures, valued at 150,000/., to his nephew, George, first
Marquess of Stafford, (afterwards first Duke of Suther-
land.) During the life of this nobleman, the collection,
added to one formed by himself when Earl Gower, was
* In Barry’s works is a paper entitled “ Remarks on the Paintings of the
Orleans Gallery, exhibited 1798, at 88, Pall Mall.” These remarks are mostly
of a technical kind ; more useful to the artist than interesting to the general
reader. Some passages I have extracted and placed in the form of notes ; for
the opinions and criticisms of such a man, whether we subscribe to them or not,
are always valuable and instructive.