Adam's IRISH OLD MASTERS 5th November 2024

84 53 ADAM BUCK (1759-1833) Portrait of William Bellingham Budworth and his Sister Emma Mary, small full length, on a balcony Signed, inscribed and dated ‘Adam Buck 1795 London’ Coloured chalks and watercolour, 34.5 x 27cm Extensively inscribed on the reverse of the frame ‘In Wax/William Bellingh . . . udworth/painted in Nove 1795 . . . six years/and a Half/Emma Bud . . . was painted at the same time - The Artist Mr. Adam/Buck - lately from . . . and who ever/ . . . to draw’, and further inscribed on a ‘W Bellingham Palmer/died 1853/&/ Emma Mary Budworth Palmer/died sister of the above & Mother of W./Alex. Mackinnow died 1835’; coloured chalks and watercolour, watermark J. Whatman. Provenance: Christies, London, 1992 British Drawings and Watercolours, lot 58 € 3,000 - 5,000 William Bellingham Budworth (1789/1853) and Emma Mary Budworth (1790-1835) were the children of Jo - seph Budworth (1756-1815), F.S.A. and writer, and Eliza palmer his wife. In 1811 Joseph Budworth succeeded in the right of his wife to the name and estates of her brother Roger Palmer of Ruth and Palmerstown, Co. Mayo. In 1812 Emma Mary Palmer, as she had become, married William Alexander Mackinnon (1784-1870), M.P. for Lymington, later 33rd chief of Clan Fuigon. At the time she was considered one of the most beautiful women in the country. Adam Buck (1759–1833), the elder son of the silver - smith Jonathan Buck, was born on Castle Street, Cork. According to the contemporary critic Anthony Pasquin, who may have been personally acquainted with him, Buck was self-taught. He gained recogni - tion as a painter of miniatures and small portraits in watercolour, working in Cork and Dublin for several years before moving to London in 1795. From that year onwards, he exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy until his death in 1833. His sole recorded exhibition in Ireland took place at the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1802. Buck’s patrons included royalty, such as the Duke of York (1804, 1812), alongside prominent figures in politics, the military, the clergy, and the theatre, many of whom had Irish connections. He also portrayed members of his own family. His two children, Alfred and Sisley, both followed in his footsteps as miniature painters. Buck is particularly noted for his romantic and sentimental portrayals, especially of mothers and children. Many of Buck’s drawings were engraved, and a series of coloured aquatint plates was produced to illustrate Laurence Sterne’s Sentimental Journey. His works are held in major collections, including the Victoria and Al - bert Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the British Museum, and the National Gallery of Ireland.