WILLIAM SHAYER THE ELDER (1787-1879), BRITISH GYPSIES RESTING WITH A TRAVELER AND HIS WHITE HORSE Oil on canvas; signed in the grass under the rock on which the elder man sits lower left 25 ins x 25 ins; 63.5 cms x 63.5 cms Provenance: The Cooling Galleries Ltd., London & Toronto gallery label verso; Frederick W. Thom Ltd., Toronto gallery label verso; Ex. Coll. Dr. & Mrs. Robert W. Marshall, Toronto; Waddington's, December 11, 2012, lot 56; Estate of W.A. Ross MacFadden, Toronto Note: This large and impressive painting by William Shayer Sr., recording a scene of the rural life of the period, is an example of the artist at his best. Its pigments sparkle with light. The late Toronto businessman and avid art collector, Ross MacFadden, admired Shayer’s unsurpassed ability to paint rural life in southern England. A self-taught artist, he lived in Southampton and painted mostly in Hampshire and the New Forest. He painted wooded scenes with bohemian travelers, rustic figures and animals as well as beach or coastal scenes with boats and fisherfolk. Shayer reputedly chose to live in Shirley because of its beautiful skies. “Gypsies Resting with a Traveler and his White Horse” was held in a private collection in Toronto from the time it was acquired from Frederick W. Thom Ltd., gallery. This oil hung in a prominent position in the Robert W. Marshall residence before Mr. MacFadden purchased it from Waddington’s in 2012. This Shayer painting is in very good condition; the canvas has not been restored, over cleaned or overpainted to the extent that some of his works on the market have been subjected. This lot, as well as lot 25 by William Shayer the Elder, are choice selections from the estate and are among the highlight works in Mr. MacFadden’s collection. Estimate: $4,000—6,000