Frederick James Shields A.R.W.S. 1833-1911. British School 19th.Century. Red chalk drawing. A Young Woman sitting regally in a rocking chair in a kitchen interior holding an inverted parasol, her cat sleeps at her feet, while a mouse eats crumbs in the corner. Entitled "Her Majesty The Queen" Signed with monogram and dated 1883 l.r., titled on the mount below and label verso, 17.5 by 14 cms.14 by 17.5cm, Provenance: The Gray Art Gallery, West Hartlepool, Presented by Alderman John Brown J.P.
Born in Hartlepool into extreme poverty, Shields originally trained as a lithographers assistant and book illustrator, inspired by the Pre-Raphaelite movement he went on to decorate many churches and chapels in fresco as well as continuing to produce popular genre subjects and landscape works.
In 1864 Shields was introduced to Rossetti through George Butterworth, a student and previous assistant to John Ruskin. This visit and Rossetti's words of encouragement with regard to his work marked a major turning point in Shields's artistic career and stylistic development. In 1876 Shields and Ford Madox Brown were commissioned to decorate the interior of Waterhouse's New Manchester Town Hall and in the same year he received a commission from Waterhouse to design the stained-glass windows for a chapel at Coodham, Kilmarnock. The success of these ventures led to additional work for both the architect and the artist, including stained glass and mosaics for the Duke of Westminster's chapel at Eaton. Through his work at Eaton, Shields became involved with Mrs. Russell Gurney, together with the architect Herbert Horne, the three designed, built, and decorated the Chapel of the Ascension in Bayswater, London. The project became Shields's life work, and he died in 1911 just a few months after its completion. Sadly this Chapel was destroyed by enemy action during the Second World War.