Irish Arts Review

The Cooper Penrose CollectionAuthor(s): Peter MurraySource: Irish Arts Review (2002-), Vol. 25, No. 2 (Summer, 2008), pp. 120-123Published by: Irish Arts ReviewStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20493326 .

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THE COOPER PENROSE COLLECTION

COLLECTIONS

Te

Cooper Penrose PETER MURRAY reports on the recent return to Cork of the important Cooper Penrose Collection,

T he story of the Penrose collection begins with the arrival in Cork, in the mid 18th century, of a young

Quaker merchant named Cooper Penrose (see also

Irish Arts Review, Autumn 2006 p1 10). Already well established in Waterford, the Penrose family owned several enter prises, notably the Waterford Glass works, a factory producing

fine cut-glass decanters, chandeliers and drinking glasses. Cooper's move to the thriving seaport of Cork was part of a strat

egy to develop this and other elements of the family business,

including timber importing and property development. In 1763, Cooper married Elizabeth, daughter of Sarah and John Dennis, a

Quaker merchant family in Cork. The Dennis family lived at

Wood Hill, in the eastem suburbs of the city, immediately north

of the River Lee. In time, Cooper and Elizabeth Penrose inherited

the house, and as they grew wealthy, Wood Hill went through

several phases of remodelling and expansion. The area around

also changed considerably. Houses were built by other 'merchant

princes' along Lovers' Walk, the narrow road leading from Tivoli

to the hill of Montenotte, overlooking the city. Named after the

first battle of Napoleon's campaign in Italy, Montenotte did much to establish Cork's reputation as a city of elegant villas and culti

vated gardens. Tivoli, deriving its name from the famous villa

outside Rome, is depicted in Nathaniel Grogan's masterpiece

Landscape at Tivoli, in the National Gallery of Ireland. Lovers'

Walk had previously been named Lepers' Walk; its new name was

more in line with the cultural aspirations of its wealthy residents.

By the beginning of the 19th century, Wood Hill had become

an important centre for visual art in the city, with painters and

1 CHARLES FORREST

(1742-1807) Portrait

of Elizabeth Penrose

1775 painted in the

gardens of Woodhill

House, charcoal and

sepia wash on paper

2 CHARLES FORREST

(1742-1807) Portrait

of Cooper Penrose

1775 charcoal

and sepia wash

on paper

120 |IRISH ARTS REVIEW SUMMER 2008

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Collection 11 marking a successful conclusion to this chapter in the family history

sculptors working in studios, and large purpose-built galleries

added to the main house. There were several paintings by James

Barry (1741-1806), a protege of Cooper Penrose, along with

landscapes by Nathaniel Grogan (c.1740-1807) and John Butts

(1728-1765). There were also works by Dutch artists such as

Arnoldus van Anthonissen and Barend van der Meer, and ceiling

panels reputedly painted by Angelica Kaufmann (1741-1807).

The family portraits included a portrait by Robert Hunter of John

Dennis and his grandson James (1766-1845), and a group

portrait, painted in Dublin in 1776, again by Hunter, showing

Cooper and Elizabeth Penrose, and their son Edward William,

and daughter Ann (Fig 8). Cooper and Elizabeth were also

depicted, in accomplished charcoal drawings, by the artist

Charles Forrest (Figs 1 &2), and Cooper again in an oil portrait,

by Thomas Pope Stevens. These relaxed portraits are in

contrast with the earlier depictions of family members,

including one of Elizabeth Penrose holding a pink rose (Fig

3) that convey the Puritan background of the family.

By way of further contrast, the portrait by Martin Archer

Shee of James Penrose (1766-1845) shows him as something

of a Regency buck (Fig 6), and indeed in the tradition of the

family, James was remembered as a 'waster'. James was one of

the group of yachting enthusiasts, his father among them,

who re-established the yacht club in Cork Harbour in 1806.

He was also fond of hunting, and the Cork Evening Post of 24

March 1800 mentions his being granted a licence to kill

game; a pursuit frowned upon by Quakers. While the three

other sons of Cooper and Elizabeth remained bachelors, in

1794 James married Louisa Petitot Fitzgerald of Cork Beg, on

the east shore of Cork Harbour, and they subsequently settled

in the village of Whitegate, close to her family home. After

the death of Cooper Penrose, in 1819, James and Louisa

reluctantly moved back to Wood Hill, but they afterwards

settled in Germany, for economic reasons. They had at least

five daughters, one of whom, Frances Ann, married George

Gumbleton of Belgrove, in Cork Harbour, while his fifth

daughter Gertrude in 1835 married James Taylor Ingham, a

barrister in London. Martin Archer Shee's portrait of James

Penrose, painted around 1806, shows the young man dressed

in classic Regency style, with ruffed lace collar and red velvet

jacket. The painting depicts James as a dashing Byronic

figure, rather than a conservative businessman, and this is in keep

ing with the perception of the Penrose family in the city of Cork at

that time. The most colourful of all the portraits however is that of

'Bessie', daughter of Cooper and Elizabeth, who is depicted wear

ing Turkish fancy dress, fashionable in those years (Fig 7).

In addition to the portrait of Cooper Penrose by Jacques Louis

David, and the gilded, applique-framed engravings by Kaufmann

(Fig 5), visitors would have seen Chinese ceramics, vases and

baluster vases with famille rose decoration of the Qianlong period,

dating from the 1780s. There were scientific instruments too,

such as the silver mounted telescope inscribed with Cooper

Penrose's name, and the bracket clock. Neo-Classical silver

ware, by Carden Terry and Jane Williams, was in use at Wood

Hill, as were glasses and decanters from the family's glass factories.

3 THOMAS POPE

STEVENS (fl. 1765-80)

(attr) Portrait of

Elisabeth Penrose

holding a pink rose

c.1760 oil on canvas

74 x 61cm

4 The Penrose

Family Crest (carved

wood)

SUMMER 2008 IRISH ARTS REVIEW I 121

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THE COOPER PENROSE COLLECTION

COLLECTIONS

After Cooper's death, the greatest days of Wood Hill were over,

and as the 19th century advanced, the house became cluttered

with Victorian fumiture. Cooper's son James, who in 1794 had

married Louisa Fitzgerald, carried on the family line, although his

eldest son, also named Cooper, never married. It was his second

son, John Dennis Penrose, who in 1849 married Harriet Hardy,

who took on the burden of maintaining the large house. However,

there was no longer money in glass manufactures, and the other

family businesses were in decline. John Dennis' son James, who

married Ethel Coghill in 1880, had the paintings in the art gal

leries taken down and put into storage. By 1894 the estate had

passed to a Reverend John Dennis Penrose. He does not appear to

have lived at Wood Hill, and in the early 20th century the lands

were leased to a Captain F McLaren. In 1933 the owner was

Joscelyn Denis Penrose, son of James, with John Buckley leasing

the property. Joscelyn would have been fifty years of age, but

James was then in his eighties. It was decided that the the house

should be sold. It was purchased by an art dealer named Cecil

Partridge, who hoped that he might make some money by selling

the fittings and fireplaces. Joscelyn moved to Derbyshire, where

his daughter Ruth in 1939 married Hugo Read, agent at

Chatsworth, and his son John, who had inherited the remains of

the art collection, in 1950 married Ann Nicholson.

With the notable exception of Desmond FitzGerald, the

world forgot about the fine art collection that had once graced

Wood Hill. Its roof stripped and windows gone, the house itself

lingered on until the 1980s, but it had long since been gutted,

and the fireplaces and fittings sold. The shell was demolished in

the 1980s and a modern Neo-Georgian house built on the site.

The most colourful of all the portraits however is that of 'Bessie', daughter of Cooper and Elizabeth, who is depicted wearing Turkish fancy dress, fashionable in those years The once extensive gardens, now divided into different proper

ties, contain a number of modern houses. FitzGerald maintained

a steady correspondence with surviving members of the family

and in 1982 John Penrose, then living in Staffordshire, con

firmed 'we still have 20 or so of the landscapes etc., and portraits

of quite a lot of the ancestors as well. Much of the furniture

comes from the original Wood Hill, and, like most Cork families,

we have Chinese porcelain which was brought over on the tea

clippers which made landfall in Ireland.' This was confirmed by

his brother-in-law Hugo Read, who wrote, '. . the house was dis

mantled in the 1920s. What pictures still remain are in my

brother-in-law's house, along with what remains of the original furniture. I can however mention two pictures - the Venus of Barry was given to a Dublin Museum .. at the time my father in-law retired (1948) as it was too big to go into the house he had bought for his retirement; and to buy that house he sold the portrait of Cooper Penrose by David, along with the artist's

122 |IRISH ARTS REVIEW SUMMER 2008

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receipt for his fee, and this is now in an American Museum'.

(Letter from Hugo Read to Desmond Fitzgerald 8 Nov 1982;

Hugo Read's wife's grandfather, Jim Penrose, agent at Lismore

Castle in the early 20th century, had done much work in record

ing the history of the family.) Notwithstanding the efforts of the

family to keep the collection intact, a few items did filter

through to the market. In April 1981, an eight-foot long George

III mahogany and satinwood serving table, was sold at Christie's,

while more recently, in 2006, elaborate sea shell compositions,

made by Sarah Dennis in the early 18th century, were sold at

Malletts in Oxford. However, between 1933 and 2007, the losses

were few. Although no longer living in the grandeur of Wood

Hill, John and Ann Penrose looked after the paintings, furniture,

books and ceramics with great care.

After the death of John, and with the agreement of their

daughters Louise and Rosemary, it was decided by the family

that the collection should be preserved intact, and presented to

the Crawford Art Gallery in Cork. Contact was re-established

through the efforts of Charles Noble, curator at Chatsworth

House. The family connection with the Dukes of Devonshire,

both in England and in Ireland, is strong: In the early 20th cen

tury, James Penrose was agent at Lismore Castle, and later his

cousin Derrick was also agent at Chatsworth. The Cork connec

tion is also strong: Derrick's wife Zoe is originally from

Castletownshend, in West Cork. Also in Cork, the McCarthy

family, who had presented John Butts' View of Cork to the

Crawford Art Gallery in 2006 and are deeply involved in the

currrent revitalisation of Fota House, found time to encourage

donors John and Helena Mooney, to acquire the Penrose collec

tion and donate it to the Crawford. In November 2007 the

paintings, ceramics, books and furniture were crated and trans

ported back from Derbyshire to the city from where they had been

removed decades before. While the donation was made under the

terms of Section 1003 of the Finance Act, with concomitant tax

relief, the successful outcome could not have been achieved with

out resolve, generosity and appreciation of the importance of the

heritage value of the collection. The paintings and other works

are now displayed in the early 18th-century rooms of the

Crawford Art Gallery, rooms that up to 2006 had been used as

administrative offices by the City of Cork VEC. These rooms, with

original 18th-century plasterwork and wood paneling, provide an

ideal environment for the Cooper Penrose collection. -

PETER MURRAY is the Director of the Crawford Art Gallery, Cork.

The Cooper Penrose Collection is on view at the Crawford Art Gallery, Cork.

5 Angelica

Kaufmann (1741

1807) Appliqu6 gilt

plaster with central

cartouche

containing an

engraving c.1770

6 MARTIN ARCHER

SHEE (1769-1850)

Portrait of James

Penrose wearing a

red velvet coat

c.1803 oil on canvas

74 x 59cm

7 Irish School, early

19th century Portrait

of Eliabeth 'Bessie'

Penrose (1774

1862) c.1803 oil on

canvas 59 x 74cm

8 ROBERT HUNTER

(fl. 1745-1803)

Portrait of the

Penrose Family

(1776) oil on canvas,

150 x 179cm

SUMMER 2008 IRISH ARTS REVIEW I 1 23

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