Painting of Oarsman Edward Hawks will be Auctioned by Bonhams

This 19th-century portrait of the oarsman Edward Hawks will be auctioned at Bonhams on 29 January. Image from Bonhams.

The good fellow Greg Denieffe has found a real gem in an auction catalogue from Bonhams, he writes, but first he mentions something about Fred Roffe, who HTBS wrote about on 4 January.

Greg writes,

It was sad to read about death of Fred Roffe. Of course I knew of the “The Fred Roffe Collection of Trophies, Medals and Memorabilia of Harry & John H. Clasper” but did not know anything about the man who donated the collection to the museum in Mystic. As is often the case, something that would have been of great interest to Fred Roffe has now come on the market and will be auctioned by Bonhams in London on 29 January.

What is going to be auctioned is a 19th-century portrait of the oarsman Edward Hawks with Durham Cathedral in the background.

Bonham writes in the description of this oil painting: ‘Edward Hawks is depicted here as a proud member of the Newcastle rowing crew who won the Champion of the World prize at the Thames Regatta in 1845. Known as Ned, he was the uncle of Susannah Hawks, wife of the famous rowing champion Henry (Harry) Clasper. The latter captained the winning boat, leading Edward Hawks along with three more Clasper brothers, Richard, Robert and William, to victory. Edward Hawks was a new recruit to the crew for this race due to the untimely death of another Clasper brother, also named Edward, who tragically drowned at the age of twenty five.’

Read more here.

Bonhams gives the following estimate of the painting: £8,000 – 12,000 (€9,900 – 15,000; US$ 13,000 – 19,000)