FDA-D.183-2010
Parts
Object number
FDA-D.183-2010
Object type
Identification
Title
Mount Hekla, Iceland
Whiteley
Whiteley
Title Type
assigned by cataloguer
collection
collection
Comments
Dayes was one of the most versatile artists of his day. He supplemented his initial training under the mezzotint engraver William Pether with study at the Royal Academy Schools, which he entered in 1780. Now remembered chiefly as a watercolourist, his output embraced print-making, book illustration, miniature portraits and, towards the end of his life, an unsuccessful foray into painting historical subject pictures in oils. He committed suicide in 1804.
Mount Heckla was painted from sketches made during an expedition to Iceland in 1789 led by John Stanley, later 1st Lord Stanley of Alderley. The group sailed from Leith on 26 May and called at the Orkneys and the Faroe Islands before reaching Iceland. The expedition did not employ a professional draughtsman, but on their return Dayes and Nicholas Pocock were each commissioned to make a series of watercolours based on the travellers' sketches, the sketch for this work being made by Lieutenant Piercie. Seventeen views by Dayes were sold by Stanley's descendants in 1964, and a further sixteen by Pocock in 1965, of which eight are now in the National Museum in Reykjavik. Mount Heckla is the most active volcano on Iceland. The largest recorded eruption in its history had taken place only years before the expedition's arrival, beginning in April 1766 and continuing until May 1768.
Mount Heckla was painted from sketches made during an expedition to Iceland in 1789 led by John Stanley, later 1st Lord Stanley of Alderley. The group sailed from Leith on 26 May and called at the Orkneys and the Faroe Islands before reaching Iceland. The expedition did not employ a professional draughtsman, but on their return Dayes and Nicholas Pocock were each commissioned to make a series of watercolours based on the travellers' sketches, the sketch for this work being made by Lieutenant Piercie. Seventeen views by Dayes were sold by Stanley's descendants in 1964, and a further sixteen by Pocock in 1965, of which eight are now in the National Museum in Reykjavik. Mount Heckla is the most active volcano on Iceland. The largest recorded eruption in its history had taken place only years before the expedition's arrival, beginning in April 1766 and continuing until May 1768.
Other number
MFW 9
Description
Dimensions
height (actual size): 355mm
width (actual size): 501mm
width (actual size): 501mm
Inscription
Signed 'Edwd. Dayes del.' (lower left) and inscribed as title (on the artist's original mount)
Materials & techniques note
Pencil and watercolour in the artist's original wash line border
Production
Person
Dayes, Edward, 1763 - 1804 (Artist)
Date
1791
History and association
Object history note
Provenance: Collection of John Thomas Stanley, later 1st Lord Stanley of Alderley; by descent; sold through Sotheby's, 9 December 1964 (Lot 72); bt Agnew; with Spink; collection of Martin Whiteley by whom bequeathed to Eton College
Exhibited: 'A Genius for Watercolour', Christie’s, London, 6 to 24 January 2003, catalogue number 50
Exhibited: 'A Genius for Watercolour', Christie’s, London, 6 to 24 January 2003, catalogue number 50
Previous ownership
Whiteley, Martin F, 1930 - 1984: Bequeathed to Eton by Martin Whiteley
