This image is a colour plate from a 1932 edition of  “The Three Muskateers” by Alexandre Dumas. In this particular edition, the colour plate is by Rowland Wheelwright.  Wheelwright was an Australian artist of historical and classical subjects, who was born in Ipswich, Queensland, on 10th September, 1870. Some of his principal works include ‘Joan of Arc Taken Prisoner‘, ‘The Caravan‘, ‘Enid and Geraint’ and ‘Don Quixote‘.

• Wheelwright went to England and was educated at Tonbridge.
• He studied art at the Herkomer’s School at Bushey; and he was
• Exhibited at the Royal Academy and Paris Salon.

Wheelwright remained in the UK and lived at Bushey, Hertfordshire for many years where he died on 20th May 1955. The Bushey Museum was gifted a collection of paintings by both Rowland and Jane Wheelwright in August 2002. A further unexpected and valuable gift of Wheelwright paintings emerged some years later on the express wishes of the donor. It appears that this collection came  from Wheelwright’s model.

As mentioned above, this illustrative plate comes from The Three Musketeers; which describes the adventures of d’Artagnan after he leaves home to travel to Paris, to join the Musketeers of the Guard – Athos, Porthos and Aramis; a set of inseparable friends who live by the motto “All for one, one for all.“.

So lets’ say: “Three cheers, for the Musketeers!, for without Wheelwright, they have no peers!.”

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