Autumn exhibition of pictures, in oil and water-colours: the fifteenth (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1885
End Date: 1885
Type: Annual exhibition
Description: 1,462 works exhibited.
£8,028 8s. 6d. receipts for sales.
71,519 visitors (based on paid admissions).
Policy: The exhibition was started in 1871 because 'The Library, Museum and Education Committee consider[ed] it desirable in the interests of Art [...]' (Liverpool autumn exhibition of modern pictures, 1871, p. 2). Its success was immediate. The receipts not only defrayed all costs but also '[...] supplied a handsome surplus to be devoted to the purposes of Art' (19th Annual Report, 1871, p. 5). As a result the autumn exhibition became an annual event.
The instructions issued to exhibitors were as follows:
'All works of Art intended for Exhibition (which must not have been previously exhibited in Liverpool) must be sent addressed to the Curator, Walker Art Gallery, William Brown Street, Liverpool[...] Arrangements have been made to meet the convenience of Metropolitan Artists for the transmission of their Works, at their own cost and risk, through Mr. James Bourlet, 17 Nassau Street, Middlesex Hospital, London.
A note [...] must be sent by post, and addressed to the Curator at Liverpool, giving the prices [...] and describing the works ads they are meant to be inserted in the Catalogue (quotations and narratives will be subject to the approval of the Acting Committee). At the back of each [work] must be written in full the name and Address of the Artist, the Title of the Picture and Number (if there are more than one)[...] The strict attention of Artists to these regulations is earnestly requested, so as to ensure accuracy in the catalogue. The absence of the Price List frequently interferes with the sale of [works of art].
[...] A Commission of Five per Cent (upon the catalogue prices) will be charged upon all works sold whilst in the possession of the Committee, whether by the Artist or the Committee.
The Committee are not responsible for, nor do they encourage any offers for Works not made through the Local Secretary; and they will be happy to receive any intimations from contributing Artists that none but Catalogue Prices would be acceptable.
All Works contributed by Members or Associates of the Royal Academy that may be sold at this Exhibition, are purchased subject to the condition that the Artist be allowed to exhibit such Work at the ensuing Exhibition of the Academy, the purchase money to be paid at the close of the Local Exhibition.
The utmost care will be taken of all Works of Art sent for the Exhibition; but the Committee will not be responsible for any damage or injury, whether in transit or whilst under their control, caused by fire or otherwise' (Instructions from 'Liverpool autumn exhibition of modern pictures', 1871, pp. 3-4).
Participants
Exhibitors included Francis John Williamson
1885
Briseis (cat. no. 1420, marble, £51 10s.); Miranda (cat. no. 1432, marble, £52 10s.).
Exhibitors included James Milo Ap Griffith
1885
An Evening Star (cat. no. 1421, bronze, £50); Primroses (cat. no. 1423, terracotta, £12 10s.).
Exhibitors included Frank Fisher
1885
Ophelia (cat. no. 1422, plaster, £3 3s.).
Exhibitors included Waldo Story
1885
Honorius (cat. no. 1424, bronze, £100); Dancing Girl (cat. no. 1435, bronze, £60); Edward, the Black Prince (cat. no. 1448, bronze equestrian statuette, £250).
Exhibitors included Frederic S. Sheldon
1885
The Right Honourable Sir Robert Nicholas Fowler, Bart, MP, Lord Mayor of London, 1883-1885 (cat. no. 1425, terracotta, not for sale).
Exhibitors included Gertrude Crockford
1885
My tricksy sprite (cat. no. 1426, bronzed plaster, £15 15s.); The Lost Chord (cat. no. 1443, terracotta, £4 4s.); Cherub of the XIXth Century (cat. no. 1446, plaster, £10 10s.).
Exhibitors included Emily Addis Fawcett
1885
Study of a Negro's Head (cat. no. 1427, bronzed plaster, £5 5s.); Dorcas (cat. no. 1456, terracotta, £6 6s.).
Exhibitors included George Tinworth
1885
Waiting for the Head of John the Baptist (cat. no. 1428, terracotta, not for sale); Jesus in the House of Lazarus (cat. no. 1429, terracotta, not for sale).
Exhibitors included John Hargreaves Bond
1885
David Radcliffe, Esq., Mayor of Liverpool (cat. no. 1430, plaster, not for sale); Geo. Peacock, Esq., RN, FRGS (cat. no. 1450, marble, not for sale).
Exhibitors included H.R.I. Gleichen
1885
Sir Andrew Barclay Walker (cat. no. 1431, marble, not for sale).
Exhibitors included Francis John Williamson
1885
Miranda (cat. no. 1432, marble, £52 10s.).
Exhibitors included Thomas Stirling Lee
1885
Alderman E. Samuelson (cat. no. 1433, marble, not for sale).
Exhibitors included Charles Bell Birch
1885
'And Ruth said, "Entreat me not to leave thee, for whither thou goest, I will go; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God."' - Ruth ch. i., v. 16 (cat. no. 1434, £52 10s.).
Exhibitors included Evangeline Stirling
1885
Lilly (cat. no. 1436, terracotta, £5 5s.); Portrait of John Finnie, Esq. (cat. no. 1454, terracotta, not for sale).
Exhibitors included Robert Stark
1885
Sussex Spaniel (cat. no. 1437, bronze, £12 12s.); Lioness (cat. no. 1439, bronze, £12 12s.).
Exhibitors included Alice Mary Chaplin
1885
A Playful Pet (cat. no. 1440, terracotta, £3 3s.); Her Majesty the Queen's Favourite Dogs, 'Noble,' 'Fern,' and 'Spot' (cat. no. 1441, plaster, not for sale); 'What have you there, Pussy?' (cat. no. 1442, terracotta, £3 3s.); Puggy's Admirer (cat. no. 1444, terracotta, £5 5s.).
Exhibitors included Herbert W. Hogg
1885
Florie (cat. no. 1445, plaster, £25).
Exhibitors included James Havard Thomas
1885
Cecilia (cat. no. 1447, marble, £31 10s.).
Exhibitors included John Warrington Wood
1885
Ruth and Naomi (cat. no. 1449, marble, £900).
Exhibitors included Louis Auguste Malempré
1885
The Rt Hon. W. E. Gladstone, MP (cat. no. 1451, marble, £52 10s.).
Exhibitors included John Throp
1885
Frisky (cat. no. 1452, marble, £100).
Exhibitors included Gustav Natorp
1885
Hercules (cat. no. 1453, bronze, £150).
Exhibitors included L. Henrietta Brown
1885
Bather Playing with Crab (cat. no. 1455, plaster on marble plinth, price in bronze listed as £12 12s.).
Exhibitors included Florence C. Browne
1885
Cottage Maid (cat. no. 1457, terracotta, £10 10s.); Head (cat. no. 1459, terracotta, £10 10s.).
Exhibitors included Emanuel Edward Geflowski
1885
Joseph Knight, Esq., RI (cat. no. 1458, terracotta, not for sale).
Exhibitors included Mark Rogers Junior
1885
The Centurion (cat. no. 1460, terracotta, £21).
Exhibitors included Esther Mary Moore
1885
Head of a Child (cat. no. 1461, plaster, £2; presumably by this artist - listed in the catalogue as E. M. Moore).
Citing this record
'Autumn exhibition of pictures, in oil and water-colours: the fifteenth (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1885', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/event.php?id=ann_1278346519, accessed 23 Mar 2023]
