A
remarkable portrait of the author Henry Williamson (1895 – 1977),
painted by the man that illustrated his much-loved nature story
‘Tarka the Otter,’ is to be auctioned at Bonhams in Chester
later this month. The portrait, by Charles Frederick Tunnicliffe
(1901 – 1978), has been consigned to auction by the sitter’s
son, and is expected to fetch between £6,000 – 8,000.

Fleeing suburban London in the aftermath of the First World
War, Williamson went to live in Georgham, North Devon. Here
he became a fervent student of nature and opened his home to
all manner of wildlife, including an otter cub whose mother
had been shot by a farmer. By persuading his cat to suckle it
along with her kitten, Williamson saved the cub’s life and it
became domesticated, following Williamson around with the devotion
of a pet dog. On one walk, however, it walked into a rabbit
trap, panicked, and ran off. Williamson spent years searching
for his lost pet in the rivers Taw and Torridge, but to no avail.

‘Tarka the Otter’ is the story of a "joyful water life
and death in the country of the two rivers" of an otter
born beside the River Torridge near Bideford. Tarka travelled
widely throughout North Devon and his journeys, experiences
and adventures are vividly described in Williamson’s book, which
was published in 1928 to much critical and popular acclaim,
winning the Hawthornden Prize. It was decided to issue an illustrated
edition in 1932 and the publishers were immediately struck by
Tunnicliffe’s aquatint, offering him the commission for 24 full-page
wood engravings.

Williamson was insistent that the Tunnicliffe should see and
comprehend the world of ‘Tarka,’ taking him to otter hunting
meets and stag hunts, and corresponding almost daily. Other
commissions followed for Williamson’s books, and the portrait
to be sold at Bonhams, which shows the writer with a Peregrine
falcon resting on his arm, was probably painted during the 1930s
when they worked on ‘A Peregrine’s Saga’ (published 1934) together.
While Williamson and Tunnicliffe were good friends for a time,
their artistic temperaments led the two to quarrel badly over
attention to detail, and they fell out over a drawing of a salmon’s
fin. This painting is believed to be the only portrait in oil
that Tunnicliffe ever executed.

For more details visit the Bonhams
web site.