Completed Dress and Textiles, East of England and The Midlands: Artists and Subjects, Portraits: British 19th C 20 Who is the artist 'Rylles' in this portrait and what more can we find about the sitter Alderman Wood?

STF_STKMG_1982_FA_6
Topic: Artist

I think this is signed, bottom left, above the lion. It says something like: R Rylles. I've attached a slightly lightened version. Maybe someone could suggest who that might be? [Moreover, what is the relationship between this artist and the artist Frederick Rieland Ryles, represented by three portraits in the same Collection https://bit.ly/3b1BHQh ?] [Group leader: Grant Waters]

Andrew Shore, Entry reviewed by Art UK

Completed, Outcome

This discussion is now closed. The title has been updated from ‘Alderman Francis Thomas Wood’ to ‘Alderman Thomas Francis Wood (1841–1921)’. The artist has been identified as Frederick Richard Ryles (1831–1908) and the portrait dated to c.1889.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the discussion. To anyone viewing this discussion for the first time, please see below for all the comments that led to this conclusion.

19 comments

Kieran Owens,

& Artist

Frederick Richard Ryles (1831-1908)

Frederick Richard Ryles, photographic artist and painter, late of Burslem, died at his residence, Pleura Bank, Macclesfield, on the 9th November 1908, aged 77. He was, therefore, born in c.1831. His funeral report, from the Staffordshire Sentinel, of Saturday 14th November 1908, is attached.

He should not be confused with Frederick Richard Ryles, florist and fruit merchant, also of Burslem, who was born in 1832 and died died in 1910.

Marcie Doran,

Kieran, are you able to attach an image of page two of the ‘Staffordshire Sentinel’ of Monday, September 5, 1921? Columns five and six contain an extensive obituary for Thomas Francis Wood (1841–1921). My full-page attachments always fail.

Kieran Owens,

Hi Marcie, the article is very, very long and the second column is badly folded so that many of the words on the right-hand side are unreadable. I'm not sure that such a biography is necessary, as at least we have identified where it is.

Marcie Doran,

That makes sense. Thanks for checking, Kieran.

This photographers web page (https://www.cartedevisite.co.uk/photographers-category/photographers/) separately lists a 'Frederick Richard Ryles' and suggests he was also at some point a partner with a T. Blackshaw and, separately, a Thomas Ryles.

I have been brefly in touch with the man who runs it and we agree it woud be useful if someone with direct Ancestry access could check the veracity of 'Rieland' as his second name as it appears on Art UK, and supply other details such as first names of his two wives, exact d.o.b,/parents, marriage dates, census addresses etc.

The following site also lists him as 'Richard' and at 180 Waterloo Road, Burslem, from 1860 to 1872 though whether that is exact or approximate dating is not clear.

https://www.search.staffspasttrack.org.uk/Details.aspx?&ResourceID=30026&PageIndex=40&SearchType=2&ThemeID=334

Marcie Doran,

Here are documents from Ancestry and the BNA that provide some of the missing information. The parents of Frederick Richard Ryles were George Ryles and his wife Ellen Ryles (née Turner) who had married on April 5, 1815. The Census record shows that George was a police officer in 1841, as stated in Frederick's obituary.

Frederick Richard Ryles married Ellen Wright, daughter of Joseph Wright, on July 21, 1857. She was buried on December 26, 1890. He married Louisa Maria Stubbs on September 7, 1898. She had married James Stubbs on September 11, 1889, and her father was shown on the record as Charles Weston. She passed away on April 18, 1914.

Frederick Richard Ryles had a business located at 284 Waterloo Road, Burslem, according to the 1880 Kelly's Directory.

Pieter, as the three other Ryles portraits are from The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery I have asked our Curatorial Art Detective contact there if anything within their records indicates where 'Rieland' might have come through, and have asked if possibly a mistranscription of Richard from written ledgers. Regards, David

My brief photo-website contact ('Ron') has already said its an error for Richard from such sources as he has and the Ancestry data above shows that is the case, however the collection first picked it up. The greater puzzle is the signature as 'Rylles' rather than 'Ryles', since the initials in 1885 are also fairly clearly 'F.R.' - the current painting being a considerable improvement on his earlier efforts represented by the other three in the Potteries Museum. The 'self-portrait' can't be 'c.1840' - when he was only nine: perhaps c.1850.

Marcie, thank you for the new information on sitter Thomas Pinder, which has been added to Art UK (not yet live on the site at the time of writing).

The biography of Frederick Richard Ryles has also been added today, but isn't showing yet either.

Here is a summary of where I believe we are with this discussion.

'As indicated in the introduction, there are three portraits by Frederick Richard Ryles (1831-1908) in the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery collection. Two of them are very early, one painted when he was twelve and a half years of the age, the second probably painted when a teenager, and the third appears to be from the 1860s onwards. From research undertaken, F. R. Ryles was a local artist and as Kieran indicates a photographer too, and Ryles doesn't appear to have shown his work at any national or major provincial exhibitions. The name Ryles is quite unusual and although the signature on the painting under discussion appears to read 'F.R. Rylles', it has to be very likely that the artist is one and the same as F.R. Ryles, the painter of the other three works.

Marcie has unearthed an article from the Staffordshire Sentinel of 31st October 1889 which describes the presentation to Alderman Thomas Francis Wood (1841-1921), who was elected Mayor of Burslem in 1888, of a portrait which is a good match for the work under discussion. An extensive obituary for Thomas Francis Wood appeared in the Staffordshire Sentinel on 5th September 1921. However, it is difficult to obtain an accurate transcript of the entire obituary due to parts of the text being illegible.

Due to the research undertaken I think we have largely addressed the central questions posed'.

Unless any contributor is of the view that there is further key information to be added, I suggest that we should conclude this discussion as above and recommend as follows:

'It is recommended that the title of this work should be amended to 'Portrait of Alderman Francis Thomas Wood (1841-1921) circa 1889' and the Artist should be amended to 'Frederick Richard Ryles (1831-1908)'.

Marcie Doran,

Regarding Ryles, for the record, I have attached an advertising notice from the Staffordshire Advertiser of October 30, 1858, and his image from the Staffordshire Sentinel of November 18, 1908. Here, too, from Ancestry, is the record of his baptism (November 27, 1831).

As indicated in the introduction, there are three portraits by Frederick Richard Ryles (1831-1908) in the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery collection. Two of them are very early, one painted when he was twelve and a half years of the age, the second probably painted when a teenager, and the third appears to be from the 1860s onwards. From research undertaken, F. R. Ryles was a local artist and as Kieran indicates a photographer too, and Ryles doesn't appear to have shown his work at any national or major provincial exhibitions. The name Ryles is quite unusual and although the signature on the painting under discussion appears to read 'F.R. Rylles', it has to be very likely that the artist is one and the same as F.R. Ryles, the painter of the other three works.

Marcie Doran has unearthed an article from the Staffordshire Sentinel of 31st October 1889 which describes the presentation to Alderman Thomas Francis Wood (1841-1921), who was elected Mayor of Burslem in 1888, of a portrait which is a good match for the work under discussion. An extensive obituary for Thomas Francis Wood appeared in the Staffordshire Sentinel on 5th September 1921. However, it is difficult to obtain an accurate transcript of the entire obituary due to parts of the text being illegible.

I recommend that we should conclude this discussion as follows:

It is recommended that the title of this work should be amended to 'Portrait of Alderman Francis Thomas Wood (1841-1921) circa 1889' and the Artist should be amended to 'Frederick Richard Ryles (1831-1908).

Grant, I have passed your recommendation directly through to our Art Detective contact at the Potteries Museum and hopefully we will receive a reply soon. Regards, David

Ron Cosens at http://www.cartedevisite.co.uk is the web source I have already mentioned re: Ryles & Blackshaw and Thomas Ryles, and he has now very kindly supplied the detailed address/date information that he has for them - see attached.

There are clearly some conficts with what we already have and sorting out a clearer address sequence and updating his profile (already online) will take more time but there is no reason to do it here and/or delay closure of the discussion on the Wood portrait.

1 attachment
Andy Mabbett,

"Francis Thomas Wood" or "Thomas Francis Wood"? Both are used above; the Staffordshire Sentinel article dated 31 October 1889 uses "Thomas Francis".

Marcie Doran,

Here, in three extracts, is that article in the 'Staffordshire Sentinel' of September 5, 1921, with the obituary of Thomas Francis Wood. The article reports that he was born in Burslem on October 29, 1841. There is a birth registration in Q4 1841 for a Thomas Francis Wood in Wolstanton, Staffordshire.

Osmund Bullock,

Probably easier to read (but not much!) in one piece - I had prepared it anyway before seeing Marcie's post. Attached.

It's definitely Thomas Francis Wood, Andy, and that way round in every single primary source I can find (and there are many) - 'Francis Thomas' appears to be an error by the Collection or Art UK.

1 attachment