Hordern House

AUSTRALIAN SCHOOL The Spark Children: Edith and Stanley. Sydney, c.1849- 1851

Pastel on paper, laid down on linen, ornate gilt frame.

A most appealing vignette portrait of two young Sydney children.

During the 1830s and 1840s Alexander Brodie Spark, the children's father, was a significant figure in the colony of New South Wales. He was many things - merchant, banker, landowner, shipowner, churchman and art collector. There is no doubt that he brought expertise and impetus to the colony, particularly in the development of coastal shipping.

The Spark family resided in two of the city's finest homes, both built by the renowned colonial architect John Verge. In 1832 Verge designed Tusculum at Potts Point (now home to the Australian Royal Institute of Architects). Four years later, Spark built a second Verge-designed house on his estate on the Cook's River. Tempe, still standing at Arncliffe, is known to have housed 100 paintings, mainly European, including a Breughel and a Claude, together with a library of 500 books.

One of the colony's earliest art patrons, A.B. Spark knew many artists working in Sydney during his time. They included Maurice Felton (who painted his wife Frances Maria), Conrad Martens, Charles Rodius (who painted Alexander Brodie himself), William Nicholas (who painted two of his step-children), Marshall Claxton and Samuel Elyard.

We cannot identify the artist of this charming portrait of the two Spark children with any certainty. But there are similarities of style to the artist Adelaide Ironside, and the date of execution corresponds to a period of activity in Sydney by this artist just prior to her departure for Europe. Painted in the European vignette style of the mid- nineteenth century, this pastel portrait was definitely the work of a talented artist who combined a romantic inclination with a well educated mind.

The children, Edith and Stanley Spark, were the fourth and fifth children of Alexander Brodie Spark and Frances Marie Spark. They were born in 1845, and on the 31st December 1846 respectively. Family history states Stanley to have been about 2 years old at the time of the portrait. Taking this as an approximate estimate of age, this could date the portrait to somewhere between 1849 and 1851.

Provenance: Alexander Brodie Spark, and by descent through the family to Norma Spark in recent times.

$A17500

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