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Lot Essay
Despite there being no record of this work ever having been exhibited during John Morgan's lifetime, The Village Auction is one of the artist's major genre works. It has been suggested that it was commissioned by Robert Gibbs, the auctioneer, to hang in his home or office. The Morgan family lived in New Street, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. Gibbs, a printer and publisher, lived at 20 Buckingham Road. He was the local historian and wrote a comprehensive history of Aylesbury and was also the local auctioneer with a sale-room in Bourbon Street. Gibbs was born around 1816 and is shown in the present work as the auctioneer, aged about 46. A photograph of him in his fifties or sixties exists in Buckinghamshire Records and Local Studies Library and shows him with a beard.
John Morgan painted a series of large canvases in the early 1860s. They were priced around £150 each, which was four times the price of his smaller exhibits. Other large scale scenes include The Income Tax - Day of Appeal, 1861, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1862, The Jury, exhibited at the British Institution in 1862, and Snowballing, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1865. He usually signed his paintings J. Morgan and the success of the The Jury led him to be known amongst his contemporaries as 'Jury Morgan'.
Many of the models for the present picture also appear in these major works. For example, there are several people who also feature in the public house where The Income Tax - Day of Appeal is being held, the twelve men of The Jury feature in the present picture, including the auctioneer Robert Gibbs. It has been suggested that the small boy in the foreground was modelled by the artist's son Edwin, aged fourteen.
Although the tower and small spire of St. Mary's church, Aylesbury are recognisable in the distance, it appears that there is no record of Englefield House, near Roundmoor in the vicinity of Aylesbury and thus the house sale appears to be fictional.
We are grateful to Terry Parker for his help in the preparation of this catalogue entry.
John Morgan painted a series of large canvases in the early 1860s. They were priced around £150 each, which was four times the price of his smaller exhibits. Other large scale scenes include The Income Tax - Day of Appeal, 1861, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1862, The Jury, exhibited at the British Institution in 1862, and Snowballing, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1865. He usually signed his paintings J. Morgan and the success of the The Jury led him to be known amongst his contemporaries as 'Jury Morgan'.
Many of the models for the present picture also appear in these major works. For example, there are several people who also feature in the public house where The Income Tax - Day of Appeal is being held, the twelve men of The Jury feature in the present picture, including the auctioneer Robert Gibbs. It has been suggested that the small boy in the foreground was modelled by the artist's son Edwin, aged fourteen.
Although the tower and small spire of St. Mary's church, Aylesbury are recognisable in the distance, it appears that there is no record of Englefield House, near Roundmoor in the vicinity of Aylesbury and thus the house sale appears to be fictional.
We are grateful to Terry Parker for his help in the preparation of this catalogue entry.