King of Sorrows (Crowning of Thorns)

It so happens that this is a fairly recent rediscovery of oil on canvas by William Shakespeare Burton (1830-1916). It was considered one of the most important pieces by this artist. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1897.

It depicts Christ just prior to his crucifixion, seated in a prison cell atop a Middle Eastern rug and stone bench, with a crown of thorns atop his head and rope bound hands, attired in a red robe having a sword as a closure and holding a whip, a cat-o-nine-tails to his right, with crushed grapes, spears and a Roman eagle banner finial at his feet. Inscription on stone seat reads in Latin, "Rex ludaeorum" or "Jesus the Nazarine, King of the Jews". A circa 1896 photograph of Burton working on this painting was pictured in a 1906 article in the English Illustrated Magazine by John S. Purcell, titled "A Veteran Artist: Mr. William Shakespeare Burton" (Vol. 35, pp. 238-48). A copy of page 238, showing the painting, accompanies this lot. This painting was also referenced but listed as "untraced" in a recent National Portrait Gallery catalog entry for Burton's self portrait, in the NPG collection. However, by the 1980s this painting had surfaced in the collection of The World Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma. When that museum closed in the early 1980s, the painting was sold to businessman and collector Larry Casey of Jackson, Tennessee, where it remained until being consigned to this auction as part of his estate.