2«-s.n<.7?.,Junk20.'67.] NOTES AND QUEKIES. 



4^ 



from the large and small engravings of it — is an 

 instance of the power possessed by Sir E. Land- 

 seer to invest his canine portraits with poetical 

 accessories. The artist was struck with this mag- 

 nificent specimen of the Newfoundland dog, when 

 dining with its owner, Mr. Newman Smith, and 

 said that he should like to paint its likeness. 

 The dog was therefore sent up to London ; and, 

 lying u])on a table in Landseer's studio, patiently 

 gave the requisite number of "sittings." The 

 accessories — the stone coping of the pier edge, 

 the iron link for boat-moorings, the surge and 

 flap of the water beneath, the faithful dog's look 

 of intelligence as though ready to spring into that 

 water to save life, the gathering storm in the sky, 

 and the sea-gulls flecking the dark clouds — these 

 add that charm to the picture which appeals at 

 once to the feelings as well as to the eye. None 

 but an artist of the highest powers of imagination 

 could have conceived such accessories, and none 

 could more truthfully have depicted them. The 

 name, too ("A Distinguished Member of the 

 Humane Society"), carries out these accessories 

 and the full feeling of the picture ; although, I 

 believe, it was not based upon facts. But it is in 

 the sentiment that his pictures convey that Sir 

 E. Landseer rises so far above other animal 

 painters. Other artists would have been content 

 to paint the portrait of the dog, and have called it 

 " A Favourite Dog, the property of So-and-so, 

 Esq." It was only a Landseer who could thus 

 convert it into " A Distinguished Member of the 

 Humane Society." The price given for this 

 glorious picture (which is life size) was 80Z. If 

 it was disposed of at the present day, Mr. Christie 

 would probably knock it down for (at least) an- 

 other cipher added to that 80 ; but its possessor 

 values it too much to part with it, nor will it 

 leave him until his death, when (I trust I am not 

 betraying confidence in saying so) it will be 

 bequeathed to the National Gallery, and will 

 certainly be one of the finest specimens of our 

 " RafFaelle des chlens." 



Sir E. Landseer's picture of " The Naughty 

 Boy," in the Sheepshanks' Collection, originated 

 in the following circumstance, as mentioned in 

 the Art Union for 1847 (p. 88.), where is an en- 

 graving from the picture by AV. Finden : — 



" This picture was the issue of an accident. A lady 

 having brought her son to sit to Mr. Landseer, the boy 

 became unruly, sulked, and refused to remain in the posi- 

 tion in which he had been placed. His mother, having 

 vainly exerted her authority, and finding him still obsti- 

 nate, forced him into 'the corner' as a punishment. 

 Here, his resolute air and sturdy attitude, struck the 

 artist, who quietly pictured his expression." 



The origin of Uwins' picture of the " Chapeau 

 de Brigand," in the Vernon Gallery, is thus told 

 in The Art Journal for 1849 (p. 97.), where there 

 is a fine engraving of the picture, by Lumb 

 Stocks : — 



" The history of the picture is briefly this. The artist 

 was suddenly called away from a little girl who was sit- 

 ting for her portrait ; being detained for a considerable 

 time, the child, at a loss for amusement, dressed herself 

 in all the varieties of costume lying about the studio. 

 On the return of Mr. Uwins, he found her surveying her- 

 self in a large glass, which exhibited her from head to 

 foot. The hilt, wherein she had stuck some peacock's 

 feathers, is the common peasant's hat of Italj-; and the 

 ornament twisted round it implies that the wearer has 

 made a pilgrimage to Loretto. The ruff of the age of 

 Rubens, the duck-tailed old woman's jacket of sixty 

 years since, the Italian peasant's petticoat, and the co- 

 rona of beads, with the appended crucifix, made alto- 

 gether a whimsical assemblage, irresistible to the artist, 

 who could not avoid the temptation of sketching the 

 droll yet picturesque object before him." 



The idea of this picture, — or, at any rate the 

 name, — reminds one of Rubens's "Chapeau de 

 Faille" (bought by the late Sir Robert Peel for 

 3500 guineas), which is said to be a portrait of the 

 painter's mistress, who, in a sportive moment, had 

 placed his hat upon her own head. (^Query, As 

 the hat is a black hat, is "Chapeau de Faille" a 

 corruption of chapeau de poil, nap or beaver ?) 



The accidental origin of famous pictures ap- 

 pears to me to be a subject of sufficient interest 

 to be followed out in the pages of " N, & Q." As 

 for example : — Raphael's " Madonna della Sedia," 

 for which the original sketch is said to have been 

 drawn In chalk on the circular end of a wine-cask, 

 the painter being struck with the appearance and 

 attitude of a mother and her two children. (There 

 is a modern French engraving of this ; one ver- 

 sion of the story appears in The Penny Post for 

 this last May.) Then there Is Sir Joshua Rey- 

 nolds's portrait of a little child, metamorphosed 

 into " Puck" by a hint from Alderman Boy dell ; 

 and Haydon's "Mock Election;" and Harlow's 

 " Trial of Queen Katherine," which originated in 

 a character portrait of Mrs. SIddons ; and others, 

 doubtless, whose name may be Legion, but whose 

 histories will be none the less interesting on that 

 account. Cuthbbet Bede, M.A. 



UNPUBLISHEO LETTER OF DAVID HUME. 



Perceiving that your readers are partial to the 

 relics of eminent literary men, I send you the copy 

 of a letter from David Hume, addressed, as that 

 which I lately contributed from Edward Gibbon, 

 to his bookseller, Mr. Becket, of the Strand. 



" Sir, 



" I have no Objection to j^our joining M. de Voltaire's 

 letters to mine. You have certainly a Right to dispose 

 of them as you think proper. 



" I cannot imagine that a Piece wrote on so silly a Sub- 

 ject as mine will ever come to a second Edition ; but if it 

 should, please order the following Corrections to be made : 



" Page viii. of the Advertisement, in the Note say The 

 original Letters of M. Rousseau will be lodged, &c. 

 " Page 4. Read Hie domus, luec patria est. 



