James Harvey d'Egville's Art Collection

The Morning Chronicle 29 June 1820
The British Library Board

I apologise for the quality of the image; the left-hand side has been lost in the digitisation process. I haven't looked into why James might have moved out of Great Marlborough Street and sold at least part of his art collection.

It would be interesting to try and discover what became of some of these paintings and their provenance. The collection appears to contain some important pieces. For example, Gapard Dughet (1615-1675) was known as Gaspard Poussin because he was Nicolas Poussin's pupil and brother-in-law. His Italianate landscape with goat herders was sold by Sotheby's for £12,500 in 2010.

While being "Old Masters" they aren't the most desirable or most expensive in today's market. In 1820 they might have had greater relative value or, for all I know, have been used as tinder.

If "Aglio" is Agostino Aglio it is possible that he was part of James' circle. Aglio worked in the decoration of theatres, churches and country houses in England and Ireland. Jame's son, James, who became a watercolourist worked in the studio of Augustus Pugin. His home must have provided some inspiration and might have provided role models for his future career.