JEAN PIERRE HOUEL (FRENCH 1735-1813)
THE GROTTOES AT SYRACUSE
£1,300
Auction: 23 May 2018 at 12:00 BST
Description
Watercolour
Dimensions
24cm x 29.5cm (9.5in x 11.5in)
Footnote
Provenance:Miss Claire Judah and thence by descent
Bought from W.R. Jeudwine Old Master Drawings, 9th May 1964 for £120-0-0
Claire Judah (1922-2017) was born in Calcutta to a Baghdadi Jewish family. She was educated in England and the proudest time of her life was when she worked as a codebreaker during the war at the famous Hut 8 at Bletchley Park. After the war she began collecting prints, paintings and antiques. Added to those she acquired herself were a number she inherited from her mother and uncle. She worked for a series of MPs in parliament. She never married and was a "third grandmother" to her nieces and nephews.