IMPORTANT IRISH ART Monday 23 November 2026 from 6PM

12 3 Sir FredericWilliam Burton RHA RWS (1816-1900) TYROLESE BOYS TRAPPING BIRDS, 1858 watercolour signed and dated lower right 21 by 16in. (53.3 by 40.6cm) Frame Size: 29.5 by 24.5in. (74.9 by 62.2cm) Provenance: Christie’s, London, 1862 [250 gns]; Private collection; Gorry Gallery, Dublin, 1987; Collection of Muriel Ryan Exhibited: OldWater Colour Society, London, 1859, catalogue no. 282; ’Loan Exhibition in Aid of the Hospital for National Consumption - Isle of Wight’, 1871, catalogue no. 139; ’An Exhibition of 18th, 19th and 20th Century Irish Paintings’, Gorry Gallery, Dublin, October 1987, catalogue no. 43; ’Frederick William Burton: For the Love of Art’, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 25 October 2017 to 14 January 2018 Literature: W. G. Strickland, A Dictionary of Irish Artists, Maunsel & Company, Dublin, 1913, p.139 Tyrolese Boys Trapping Birds was last shown at the National Gallery’s Burton exhibition ‘For the Love of Art’ in 2017-2018, surrounded by works reflecting the development of the artist’s style in Germany. Having spent his early career in Ireland, Burton visited Germany in 1842 and 1844, settling in Munich between 1851-1858, with a year in Nuremberg. He had access to major collections from introductions to the Bavarian Royal family through his relative William Burton (1815-1845), aide-de-camp to King Ludwig I. His travels in Continental Europe including, Austria and Switzerland, provided him with rich material for his paintings and increased his art historical knowledge and familiarity with the Old Masters. Burton enjoyed the picturesque mountainous lake district of Innthal in southern Bavaria and the Austrian Tyrol, making numerous sketches of the people and their lifestyle, his small-scale studies informing his finished paintings. Burton first showed Tyrolese Boys, Trapping Birds at the OldWatercolour Society in 1859, having become a member in 1855. The sympathetic study shows three boys engaged in the practice of hunting birds for food or as pets. The composition reflects Burton’s practice of undertaking preliminary detailed studies of figures, plants and trees, which is illustrated in related drawings of the poses of the boys, the pine stump and maize in the National Gallery of Ireland. What helps the watercolour to retain its sense of freshness is Burton’s skilful use of white, to highlight the children’s faces, the branches of the trees and the foreground vegetation. His finely observed study follows the English art critic John Ruskin’s dictum to work directly from nature. The Times art critic (May 1859) drew attention to Burton’s meticulous painting of the fir stump, dry cones and pine needles, saying ‘the careful drawing of the figures shows uncommon merit’. In 1858, Burton left Germany to settle in London, his European experience having had a profound influence on him. His active career as a painter ended abruptly in 1874, when he was appointed director of the National Gallery, London. Marie Bourke, October 2026 €25,000-€35,000 (£21,010-£29,410 approx.) Click here for more images and to bid on this lot3