An Extraordinary Lithographic Collection Of ‘Monsters’!

Born in 1776, Kerr was the third son of a wealthy Scottish peer, William Kerr, 5th Marquess of Lothian. He spent much of his early life at Charlton, a grand Jacobean house near the bustling centre of Greenwich on the River Thames. It is perhaps as a result of his early exposure to this maritime world that Kerr joined the Navy at the age of sixteen.

He first went to sea as a midshipman on HMS Lion in 1793, on an ambassadorial voyage to China. Among the passengers and crew were artists including Thomas Hickey (1741-1824) and William Alexander (1767-1816). Alexander went on to have a career defined by his depictions of Chinese subjects, and Hickey forged a reputation as a painter with a global outlook, spending much of his later life in India. Kerr spent two years with these men on board the Lion and it was through their tutelage that he developed his artistic abilities, recording landscapes for the ship’s logbook.

In 1799 Kerr married Lady Charlotte MacDonnell (1778-1835), the daughter of the 1st Marquess of Antrim. The couple enjoyed visiting the country estates of their friends and family, and Kerr often used these trips to indulge in his love of landscape, spending time making sketches and watercolours of his surroundings. Their social circle included the Cornwallis family and it was as a result of a visit to the Cornwallis’ Suffolk residence, Culford Hall, that Kerr’s drawings took a rather more surprising and fantastical turn.

Here, he was shown the Gorleston Psalter, an extraordinary illuminated medieval manuscript now in the collection of the British Library. He was fascinated by the illustrations in the margins, depicting strange goings on, with anthropomorphic creatures blurring the lines between reality and fantasy.

Inspired by the Gorleston Psalter, Kerr soon began creating his own imaginary creatures, often combining his drawings with humorous or satirical captions. He took pleasure in sharing these creations with his friends and used lithography to produce multiple copies. This printmaking technique not only provided an easy means of duplicating his designs, but also allowed the quality of the original drawings to be retained. Kerr never sought to publish his prints, and consequently they are little known today.

The lithographs on display here are believed to have been personally gifted to the Cornwallis’ by Kerr. They were brought to Audley End by Lady Jane Braybrooke (née Cornwallis) (1798-1856) after 1823 when Culford Hall was sold. They form part of a set, of which only three others are known. Their significance has only recently been re-acknowledged as the result of a volunteer-led project to digitise and re-pack Audley End’s collection of over 3,000 prints and drawings.

Although Kerr’s surreal images are rooted in the visual tradition of medieval illuminated manuscripts, they seem remarkably modern. Their influence can be seen in the work of later nineteenth century illustrators such as Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll, who similarly took pleasure in the humorous combination of word and image. There are even visual echoes to be found in the early twentieth century paintings of Salvador Dali.

Top left: Admiral Lord Mark Kerr, c.1830. Private Collection.
Above: Details from Gorleston Psalter, 14th century. British Library.