Life, achievements and influence of Thomas Combe of Oxford (1796-1872)

In 1893, some 21 years after Thomas Combe’s death, his wife, Martha, bequeathed their collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings, and a few other paintings, to the University of Oxford. Most of these had been bought from the artists themselves at a formative time in their careers and it is not surprising that books on Pre-Raphaelite art, from that time to this, make many references to Combe, and to his wife. He is usually described as Superintendent of the University Press at Oxford, a High Churchman, and a man of wealth, but beyond this he remains a shadowy figure. There are some short descriptions of his work in other sources - a notebook by one of his contemporaries at Oxford, a short history of his benefactions, and the Press’s house magazine - but there is no full and rounded study of his life, achievements and influence. This work seeks to make good that deficiency, and corrects some statements made about Combe in the sources referred to above. An examination of four strands in Combe’s life - his work at the Press, his relations with the young Pre-Raphaelite painters and his art collecting, his contribution to the Tractarian movement, and his benefactions - poses some organisational difficulties. Whilst there are some links between these topics, they are sometimes in one direction only: his work at the Press, and the income derived from it, obviously governed the scale of his art collecting and of his building projects, but neither of these activities had any bearing on his work at the Press. Similarly, while Tractarianism may have influenced Pre-Raphaelite art, there is nothing to suggest that the latter had any impact on the former. For the most part, therefore, these topics are handled separately, with necessary cross-referencing, and conclusions are drawn within the chapters, or groups of chapters, dealing with those topics. To gather the conclusions together in one ‘Conclusions’ chapter would divorce them from the delicate arguments from which they are derived, and this course has not been followed. Instead, the final chapter takes an overview of the mid-nineteenth century market for works of art by living artists; compares Combe’s buying patterns with those of other collectors; compares the size and composition of his collection with other collections of Pre-Raphaelite art; and draws conclusions on these matters.

Grantor dc:publisher

Oxford Brookes University

Author dc:creator

• Hughes, Albert Colin

Contributors dc:contributor

• Hughes, Arthur Colin

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved

Language dc:language

en

DOI dc:identifier

https://doi.org/10.24384/djbb-vc13

OAI identifier oai:identifier

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