Paintings by Herbert Sidney Percy

Left: A Ship at Anchor in a Bay with Seaweed, Center: Peat Gatherers, and Right: Seascape of a Rocky Coast.

Left: Mrs. Herbert Percy (the Artists Wife), Center: A Cottage in the Woods, and Right: Portrait of Captain James Wood.

Paintings by Herbert Sidney Percy

Herbert Sidney Percy was the youngest son of the celebrated Victorian landscape artist Sidney Richard Percy, a member of the Williams family of painters that included such well-known landscape artists as Henry Boddington and Arthur Gilbert, among others. Herbert studied in the 1880s at the Royal Academy Schools, where he won two silver medals, and he exhibited in 1900 one painting at the Academy. He also exhibited at the Suffolk Street Gallery of the Royal Society of British Artists (8 paintings from 1880-1900), the Royal Society of Painters in Oils, and the New Gallery. Examples of his work hang at the Walker Art Gallery, the Manchester City Art Gallery, the Liverpool Gallery, and the Dudley Gallery. His portrait of Captain James Wood hangs in the Royal Marines Museum in Portsmouth, Hampshire.

Herbert Sidney Percy considered himself primarily a portrait painter and a miniature painter, as these types of works were generally commissions that brought in lots of money. However, he also painted landscapes, in a similar style to that of his father, restored old paintings, and prepared illustrations for magazines and books, including some of the books written by his close friend G.K. Chesterton. In some cases, he made the engravings for these illustrations himself. He often referred to his watercolor landscapes, which he was quite adept at painting, as "pot boilers", since he could paint them quickly, and sell them easily to "keep the pot boiling on the kitchen stove and food on the table" in between his commission work on portraits and miniatures. He died on October 8, 1932 in the Hammersmith borough of London. Wikipedia Article

signatures from some of Herbert Sidney Percy's paintings

Today,one example of his work can be seen in a British museums, which is also on the Art UK website.

Royal Marines Museum

Herbert Sidney Percy Portraits

Far Left: The Old Love and the New. Center LEFT: Couple Walking Along a Punt Up a River. Center Right: Young Girl Resting by a Brook. Far Right: Distant Thoughts.

Far Left: Mrs. Herbert Percy (the Artists Wife). Center left: Portrait of the Artists Daughter. Center Right: Portrait of Captain James Wood. Far Right: Portrait of the Artist's Wife.

Far Left: A Little Royalist. Center left: The Poppy Garden. Center Right: Ninos Junto a la Puerta de la Casa. Far Right: An English Rose.

Other Works by Herbert Sidney Percy

Left: A Small Statue, Center: Cart Horses Watering at a River by a Water Mill, Right: Copper Bas-Relief

Left: Lekande Flickor Och Hundar, Right: At Porlock Weir, Somerset

An 1889 painting by Herbert Sidney Percy painting titled Lovers that is signed and dated in the lower left corner.
However, the signiture differs from the "H S Percy" that he usally signed with, and may have been added by someone else.

A pair of small landscapes painted in oils.

Herbert Sidney Percy Illustrations and Prints

Left: A woodcut of an H.S. Percy drawing from an 1886 edition of The Distant Hills by William Adams.
Center: A line drawing by Herbert Sidney Percy published in 1890 in the English Illustrated Magazine.
Right: An Engraving by Herbert Sidney Percy published in 1890 in the English Illustrated Magazine.

Left: A Sheltered Vale - a 1905 lithograph by Tuck & Son, Ltd. of a Herbert Sidney Percy painting.
Center and Right: Crossing the Brook and A Cottage in the Woods - Two Herbert Sidney Percy prints,
both probably printed about 1905 by an unknown publisher.

Left: Feeding the Chickens. Right: Figure at the Cottage Gate.

Herbert Sidney Percy Watercolor Landscapes ("Potboilers")

Herbert Sidney Percy called small watercolor paintings on paper like these "potboilers", as they were quickly executed, and often sold on the spot "to put food on the table".

The above watercolors came from the estate of Herbert Sidney Percy's daughter Sidney Dolores Bunce. The one exception is the painting in the bottom row center, which was offered for sale on the internet. It quite clearly is a slightly different version of the estate painting to the immediate left of it. Below are three other Herbert Sidney Percy watercolors that appeared on the internet in the past. Below are shown three other Herbert Sidney watercolors that have also appeared for sale on the internet in the past.

Herbert Sidney Percy Miniature Paintings

The top row are miniatures of the artist's daughter Sidney Dolores Bunce (neé Percy). The bottom row displays on the left side two minatures of his wife Maude Thompson, and the right miniature is his sister-in-law Constance Crawley (neé Percy). The one of Sidney reading a book is on copper, and the one without the frame that shows her as a young woman is painted on paper. According to Sidney, some of the others are painted on ivory, but we don't know which ones. Below is a selection of miniatures painted on ivory by Herbert Sidney Percy that have appeared for sale on the internet.