Object Description
Attributed to BENJAMIN SHIPHAM
(1806-1872)
Mamhead House, Devon
Signed with initials l.r.: BS
Watercolour
Framed
17 by 27 cm., 6 ¾ by 10 ½ in.
(frame size 33 by 42.5 cm., 13 by 16 ¾ in.)
Provenance:
Ex collection of H. A. E. Day
(publisher of G Waters, Dictionary of British Artists working 1900-1950)
Shipham was born in Nottingham and seems to have lived there for most of his life. He painted landscapes and exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1852 until his death as well as at the British Institute and Royal Society of British Artists. Works by him are in the collections of Nottingham City Museum & Art Gallery, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Derby Art Gallery and Glasgow.
The present Mamhead House dates to 1827 and was designed for the Exeter shipping fleet owner Robert Newman by Anthony Salvin. In the Tudor Revivial style, it was Salvin’s first important commission and made his reputation. The house remained in the Newman family until the 1950s. It then became an event centre before recently returning to private ownership.