LUCIUS GAHAGAN (1773-1855) Bonaparte's Throne Watercolour, 37 x...

LUCIUS GAHAGAN (1773-1855)
Bonaparte's Throne
Watercolour, 37 x 26cm
Signed and dated 1817; inscribed verso 'Bonaparte swears to the Constitution, December 2nd 1804'

Lucius Gahagan (1773-1855 or 1866)

The Gahagan (Geoghegan) family tree is a puzzle as the exact relationship between the seven sculptor members of the family is unclear. Walter Strickland in his ‘A Dictionary of Irish Artists’, first published in 1913, refers to a Laurence Geoghegan (fl.1756-1820) as a sculptor. He was first mentioned in 1756, having received a premium of four pounds by the Dublin Society for ‘a piece of sculpture’. He later went to London, and in 1777, having altered his name to ‘Gahagan’, received a premium of thirty guineas from the Society of Arts for a cast of a Figure. His brother Sebastian Gahagan (fl.1800-1835) is also recorded by Strickland as being a sculptor, working in London for Joseph Nollekens RA. There are various references to other Gahagans who are thought to be off-spring of either Laurence or Sebastian. Lucius, one of the next generation, was apparently born in Dublin in 1773 and, despite his obvious skill at drawing, he made his living as a sculptor and lived in Bath from about 1820 until his death. Much of the extant work, both drawings and sculpture, is simply signed ‘L.Gahagan’ compounding the confusion.

These drawings, while of differing dates in the early 19th century, would appear to reflect the fashion in Britain for Napoleonic memorabilia and design, particularly after the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. They date from as early as 1817 to as late as 1831 but are quite distinctly by the same hand which would rule Laurence out as the artist. A similar work to this tranche, and undoubtedly from the same series was sold by Sotheby’s London in 2008, attributed to Laurence Gahagan.

This collection was exhibited by Cynthia O’Connor and Co. Ltd in Dublin in an undated Christmas show of ‘Old Irish Watercolours’, where they were purchased by Homan Potterton. They were described as Sketches “From the large Panoramic Model Executed in Terra Cotta by L.Gahagan & Exhibited in Bath ….. and Cheltenham in 1817 – 18 & to 2(?2 or 4)”.