ΦHarry Mileham (1873-1957)

ΦHarry Mileham (1873-1957)
The Pardoner's Prologue (from The Canterbury Tales)
Signed and dated Harry.R.Mileham.1924 (lower left)
Oil on canvas
67.4 x 165cm; 26½ x 65in

Provenance:
By family descent from the artist

Exhibited:
Brighton, Brighton Arts Club, 1925, no.4;
London, The New Society of Artists, 1925;
London, Leighton House Museum; Hove, Hove Museum and Art Gallery; Canterbury, Royal Museum and Art Gallery, Harry Mileham, 1995

Literature:
The Connoisseur, September 1925, p.55;
Patrick Mileham (ed.), Harry Mileham 1873-1957: A Catalogue, (1995), pp.16, 44-47, 50, 66, illustrated on cover an pl.39;
Michael Alexander, Medievalism: The Middle Ages in Modern England (Yale University Press, 2007), p.64 (illustrated)

This work by Harry Mileham, and the preceding lot, are offered at auction here for the first time, and are two of the most significant paintings of his career. The Finding of Moses (lot 334) was the painting for which he was awarded the Gold Medal and Travelling Studentship by the Royal Academy. This was the premier prize at the Royal Academy Schools, and Frederic Leighton had the casting vote.

The Pardoner's Prologue, was painted almost 30 years later and, in the words of Helen Cooper, Emeritus Professor of Medieval and Renaissance English at the University of Cambridge, "this work represents the apex of Mileham’s achievement in historical and literary interpretation”. The painting demonstrates Mileham's minute reading of Chaucer's text, with details such as the Miller's white coat and blue hood, or the Pardoner's long hair, conforming with the source. His attention to detail extended beyond the text, as the Pardoner's reliquary is based on one in the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Host's keys are based on those of the medieval Town Hall in Calais.