FDA-D.509-2010
Parts
Object number
FDA-D.509-2010
Object type
Identification
Title
Montem in Weston's Yard with King George IV
Title Type
assigned by cataloguer
Comments
Charles Turner was one of the leading mezzotint engravers of his day, and J.M.W. Turner's chosen collaborator for The Libor Studorium; though the pair quarrelled when the engraver demanded a higher fee, they were later reconciled, and many of the painter's series of The Rivers and Ports of England were scraped by Charles Turner. Besides these landscapes, he was a prolific engraver of portraits, and also drew and reproduced his own work.
The origins of the Eton Montem procession are shrouded in obscurity. A form of ritual was taking place on the Salt Hill at Slough in the sixteenth century, but it was a probably not until the middle of the eighteenth century that the event took its final form as a kind of military pageant, mounted as a benefit for the Captain of School on his leaving. Donations were solicited (or exerted) from fellow pupils and from passers-by as the procession made its way from Eton to Slough, in exchange for a token pinch of salt. It was estimated that the Captain could gain £100 from the day, but in later years the expenses of funding a feast for scholars, and paying the damage at local drinking establishments could substantially reduce this sum. The Montem was abolished after the 1844 event, largely, it is said, on account of the railway bringing undesirable onlookers to disturb the time-honoured festivities.
The 1820 Montem took place on 23 May, a matter of four months after the accession of George IV on 29 January. It has been presumed that the group portrait, and its pair, a view of the procession at Botham's Inn, Salt Hill, may have been commissioned by John Wilder, then Captian of School and later Vice Provost and a major benefactor to the College. The watercolours were however retained by Turner, who perhaps planned to raise a subscription to engrave them, and were only acquired by Wilder later in the century. Also in the Eton collection are a number of individual studies of the participants.
The origins of the Eton Montem procession are shrouded in obscurity. A form of ritual was taking place on the Salt Hill at Slough in the sixteenth century, but it was a probably not until the middle of the eighteenth century that the event took its final form as a kind of military pageant, mounted as a benefit for the Captain of School on his leaving. Donations were solicited (or exerted) from fellow pupils and from passers-by as the procession made its way from Eton to Slough, in exchange for a token pinch of salt. It was estimated that the Captain could gain £100 from the day, but in later years the expenses of funding a feast for scholars, and paying the damage at local drinking establishments could substantially reduce this sum. The Montem was abolished after the 1844 event, largely, it is said, on account of the railway bringing undesirable onlookers to disturb the time-honoured festivities.
The 1820 Montem took place on 23 May, a matter of four months after the accession of George IV on 29 January. It has been presumed that the group portrait, and its pair, a view of the procession at Botham's Inn, Salt Hill, may have been commissioned by John Wilder, then Captian of School and later Vice Provost and a major benefactor to the College. The watercolours were however retained by Turner, who perhaps planned to raise a subscription to engrave them, and were only acquired by Wilder later in the century. Also in the Eton collection are a number of individual studies of the participants.
Other number
CL 592
Description
Content (event)
Montem
Dimensions
height (actual size): 508mm
width (actual size): 685mm
width (actual size): 685mm
Inscription
Signed and dated on the mount, 'C Turner. 1820' and inscribed with names identifying the participants
Printed on mount: 'Presented by Mrs Wilder'
Printed on mount: 'Presented by Mrs Wilder'
Materials & techniques note
Pencil and watercolour
Production
Person
Turner, Charles, 1774 - 1857 (Artist)
Date
1820
History and association
Associated object
FDA-D.580-2010 (sketch)
Object history note
Provenance: The artist's studio sale, 8 February 1858, Lot 1191; from which sale purchased by 'Radclyffe' for £23.10 (with its pair); John Wilder, Vice Provost of Eton, 1891;; collection of Major J.C. Wilder; by whom bequeathed to E|ton College in 1999
Exhibited: 'Eton Loan Exhibition', Eton College, 1891, catalogue number 82; 'A Genius for Watercolour', Christie’s, London, 2003, catalogue number 9
Exhibited: 'Eton Loan Exhibition', Eton College, 1891, catalogue number 82; 'A Genius for Watercolour', Christie’s, London, 2003, catalogue number 9
References
• Wilcox, T., A Genius for Watercolour; Watercolours from the Eton College Collection, Christie's exhibition catalogue, London, 2003 (p. 16), Catalogue number: 9
