British Drawings and Watercolours Master Drawings New York Jan 2024

BRITISH DRAWINGS AND WATERCOLOURS MASTER DRAWINGS NEW YORK JANUARY 2024

GUY PEPPIATT FINE ART

BRITISH DRAWINGS AND WATERCOLOURS MASTER DRAWINGS NEW YORK JANUARY 2024 EXHIBITING AT THE ARADER GALLERIES, 1016 MADISON AVE BETWEEN 78TH AND 79TH ST Guy Peppiatt Fine Art Ltd Riverwide House, 6 Mason’s Yard Duke Street, St James’s, London SW1Y 6BU Tel: +44 (0) 7956 968 284 guy@peppiattfineart.co.uk www.peppiattfineart.co.uk

Front Cover: (21) David Cox, O.W.S. (1783-1859)

Figures on the shore, looking out to sea, Penmaen Bach, North Wales Opposite: (18) John Varley (1778-1842)

Evening view near the Thames in Lambeth, London Rear Cover: (35) David Roberts, R.A. (1796-1864)

A View of the Temple of Al-Khazneh, Petra 1

1 Thomas Robins the Elder (1715-1770) Sudeley Castle and St Mary’s Church, Gloucestershire showing the effects of the Cromwellian Demolition of 1649 Gouache over traces of pencil 27 by 37.4 cm., 10 ¾ by 14 ¾ in.

Provenance: Henry Rogers Broughton, 2nd Baron Fairhaven (1900-1973) Literature: Cathryn Spence, Nature’s Favourite Child - Thomas Robins and the Art of the Georgian Garden, 2021 p. 196-7, ill. fig. 184 2

This view is taken from the east looking over Sudeley Castle with the village of Winchcombe beyond. During the English Civil War, Sudeley was a base for Charles I’s nephew Prince Rupert, and, because of this, the Council of State in April 1649 ordered that the castle be ‘slighted’ or rendered unusable for military purposes.

Accordingly, in August and September 1649, Sudeley was effectively demolished, roofs were removed and the buildings exposed to the elements. Much of the effects of the Cromwellian demolition can still be seen in Robins’s view of more than a century later. Architectural fragments strew the ground, and the tall windows of the ruined Banqueting Hall (never in fact rebuilt) can clearly be seen in the centre of the composition. On the right, St Mary’s Church is obviously roofless and in ruins. The castle was rebuilt by the Dent family in the 19th century.

Thomas Robins was born at Charlton Kings near Cheltenham, only six miles as the crow flies from Sudeley Castle. Little is known of his early life but he was in Bath by 1760 where he established his reputation as a topographical artist producing views of the city and local grand houses. Robins’s importance is as one of the earliest topographical artists working on paper (or vellum), recording gardens and country houses from 1747 until the late 1760s when few others were doing so. His works are often drawn within a framework of painted intertwining rococo flowers. John Harris describes him as ‘an artist who painted English houses and garden when they were most enchanting; whose eye captured the rococo garden at its perfection and when it was most whimsical; whose paintings are almost sensual in the sheer delight they give; such was Thomas Robins the Elder’ (John Harris, Gardens of Delight – the Art of Thomas Robins, 1976, p.1).

2 English School, late 18th century A study of a Silver Birch Oil on panel 33 by 26 cm., 13 by 10 ¼ in.

This work is close in style to Thomas Gainsborough.

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3 Thomas Gainsborough, R.A. (1727-1788) Study of Trees Inscribed upper left: No 19 Pencil on laid paper 20 by 14.7 cm., 7 ¾ by 5 ¾ in.

Provenance: Private collection, UK since circa 1975 Literature: Hugh Belsey, ‘A Second Supplement to John Hayes’s ‘The Drawings of Thomas Gainsborough’’, Master Drawings, vol. XLVI, 2008, no.1025, ill.

The two drawings included here are both on the spot studies from nature, although from different ends of his career. The first, Hugh Belsey has dated to the early part of his career, circa 1756, whilst the second has been dated by John Hayes to the late 1780s, in the years shortly before his death. They therefore demonstrate the continuing importance of the direct study of nature to the artist, which is not always evident in the idealised landscapes of many of his finished watercolours and oils.

Gainsborough was deeply influenced by the works of earlier European Masters and their tradition of idealised landscapes. Like artists, including Ruisdael, Claude and Poussin, Gainsborough had little interest in topography, indeed he actively avoided such works. A surviving letter in the British Library from the artist to the 2nd Earl of Hardwick in which Gainsborough politely refuses a commission, states that whilst he ‘shall always think it an honor to be emply’d in any thing for his Lordship; but with regard to real Views from Nature in this Country, he has never seen any Place that affords a Subject equal to the poorest imitations of Gaspar or Claude Paul Sandby is the only Man of Genus, he believes, who has employ’d his Pencil that Way’. (John Hayes ed., The Letters of Thomas Gainsborough, 2001, p. 30).

The present drawing has been dated by Hugh Belsey to circa 1756 who compares it to Trees Overhanging a Stream, Cantor Arts Centre, Stanford University (John Hayes, The Drawings of Thomas Gainsborough, London, 1970, p. 138, no.107).

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4 Thomas Gainsborough, R.A. (1727-1788) A Study of Trees Black chalk and stump heightened with white on coloured laid paper, with watermark GR surmounted with by a crown 15.4 by 22.3 cm., 6 by 8 ¾ in.

Literature: John Hayes, ’Gaainsborough Drawings: a supplement to the catalogue raisonné’, Master Drawings XXI (4), winter 1983, p. 387, no. 954

Provenance: Dr R.W. Kosterlitz, New York; Anonymous sale, Bonhams, Knightsbridge, 24 October 2012, lot 276, where bought by the present owner

John Hayes in his supplement to his catalogue raisonné dates the present drawing to the late 1780s.

See note to no.3.

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5 George Frost (1745-1821) A steep wooded bank, by the Orwell, Suffolk With William Esdaile collector’s mark lower left (Lugt. no.2617) Black chalk and stump with fixative on laid paper 27.2 by 36.3 cm., 10 ¾ by 14 ¼ in.

Provenance: William Esdaile (1758-1837) George Frost started working in his father’s business as a builder, before obtaining a position as clerk, in the office of the Blue Coach Company, Ipswich, a post he retained until his retirement in 1813. A gifted draughtsman, his first recorded 6

watercolour is dated 1780. Like many of his contemporaries, Frost found inspiration in the landscape around him; his friend the Rev. James Ford described him, sketching the ‘the pleasing scenery around the town of Ipswich; its hollow and tortuous lanes with broken sand-banks; its copse-grown dells; above all the richly-wooded and picturesque acclivities of its winding river, were his perpetual haunts’. (J. Hayes, The Drawings of Thomas Gainsborough, London, vol. the text, 1970, p. 71). Frost also established himself as a drawing master and was certainly teaching by 1797. He especially admired and collected the work of Thomas Gainsborough and befriended John Constable. The two men not only corresponded for a number of years, but Constable records that the two men sketched together on the banks of the River Orwell in 1800.

6 George Frost (1745-1821) A Pond in a Woodland Clearing, Postwick Grove, Norwich With William Esdaile collector's mark lower right (Lugt no.2617) Inscribed verso: A Pond by the Grove Black chalk and stump with fixative on laid paper 30.3 by 42.6 cm., 12 by 16 ¾ in.

Provenance: William Esdaile (1758-1837); Private collection, London until 2023

Postwick Grove, is a steep wooded hillside on the north bank of the River Yare, to the east of Norwich. During the 19th Century, it became celebrated as a beauty spot, with residents of the surrounding towns, including Norwich, taking day trips out to visit the Grove. It was frequently painted by the Norwich School of Artists, including John Crome (1768-1821), James Stark (1794-1859) and John Sell Cotman (17821842).

Both these drawings belonged to William Esdaile who formed one of the most notable art collections of the period. Following his death, his collection was sold at Christie’s in March 1838, over a seventeen day period and included over 200 drawings by Frost.

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7 George Romney (1734-1802) A Nymph dancing with a tambourine Pencil and brown wash 54 by 24 cm., 21 ¼ by 9 ½ in.

Provenance: Spink-Leger Pictures 1998; Private Collection, USA Exhibited: London, Spink-Leger Pictures, Master Drawings, 17th to 20th Century, 1998, no. 19; Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery; London, National Portrait Gallery; San Marino, California, The Huntingdon Library, George Romney 1734-1802, 2002, cat. no 56.

Literature: Spink-Leger Pictures, Master Drawings 17th to 20th Century, London, 1998, no. 19, ill.; Alex Kidson, George Romney 1734-1802, 2002, p. 114, ill.

The present large-scale drawing is related to perhaps Romney’s most celebrated oil ‘The Leverson-Gower Children,’ now in the Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal, painted when the artist was at the height of his powers. The portrait group showing the five youngest children of Granville 2nd Earl Gower (1721-1803), one of the most influential figures in Georgian Society, dancing in a circle with the eldest of the five, Lady Anne (1761-1832) playing the tambourine. The painting was commissioned in late November 1776 and delivered in 1777. Romney had recently returned from an extended visit to Italy, where he was inspired not only by the paintings he saw but also by classical sculpture.

The vivacity of this drawing and the freedom of handling is evident not only in the swirling mix of thick and thin brushstrokes, as he captures the movement of the figure, her arms swept above and around her head and also with her drapery, but also in the dash of ink splashed on the upper right of the sheet. Whilst unlikely to be intentional, this splash adds to the bold sense of movement and emphasises the rapidity of execution. The size of the sheet makes one wonder if it were a preliminary study, or whether it was conceived as a related, but independent work in its own right.

Furthermore, the animation of the dancing form is very different from the more restrained, columnar form of Lady Anne in the other studies and in the finished oil. It is thought that the idea for the composition of the painting may have been inspired by the dancers that Romney saw in Nice celebrating May Day, en route to Italy: ‘Hand in hand…they were perfectly in time with another moved with the greatest vivacity and spirit: the air of antiquity had the most enchanting effect’. (Quoted in Abbott Hall Art Gallery description of the painting see www.lakelandarts.org.uk).

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8 James Ward, R.A. (1769-1859) A Farmer drinking from a Tankard Signed with initials lower left Black and white chalk on buff paper 26 by 14.6 cm., 10 ¼ by 5 ¾ in.

Provenance: Anonymous sale, Christie’s, 1st April 1881, lot 50; With Thos. Agnew & Sons, 1998 Exhibited: London, Thos Agnew & Sons, English Watercolours Drawings and Small Oil Paintings, 25th February to 20th March 1998, no.29 This is a study for the figure to the right hand side in Ward’s ‘The Farrier’s Shop’ exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1796, no.477.

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9 Dr Thomas Monro (1759-1833) A Pool by Rocks Black chalk and grey wash on laid paper watermarked with a fort 15.4 by 19.8 cm., 6 by 7 ¾ in.

Dr Monro was one of the most important patrons of young artists of his date.

He invited them to study and copy works from his collection at his house at Adelphi Terrace, London. These works are generically described as from the ‘Monro School’ and the artists he helped support included Turner, Girtin and Edward Dayes.

His own drawings, or ‘imaginings’ as he called them are distinctive monochrome landscapes in black chalk and washes.

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10 Louisa Heath Drury (1787-1873) View of Chudleigh Rock, Devon Inscribed verso: View of Chudleigh Rock. Devon July 17th 1805 Pen and grey ink over traces of pencil 17 by 26.4 cm., 6 ½ by 10 ¼ in.

Provenance: Given by the artist to her daughter Frances Angel Merivale, 17th November 1869; By descent to Miss A. Merivale by October 1960; With Thos. Agnew & Sons, March 1961 as by Francis Towne; By descent until 2023 Literature: Richard Stephens, Catalogue Raisonné of Francis Towne (1739-1816), online (www.francistowne.ac.uk), part of FT881c

Exhibited: London, Agnew’s, 88th Annual Exhibition of Water-Colour Drawings, March 1961 This was part of an album of drawings by Louisa Drury bought by Agnew’s in 1960 as by Francis Towne. The album was inscribed ‘L.H. Drury Sept 15 1803’ and ‘Louisa Heath Merivale July 1805’.

This was part of an album of nineteen drawings by Louisa Drury bought by Agnew’s in 1960 as by Francis Towne. The album was inscribed ‘L.H. Drury Sept 15 1803’ and ‘Louisa Heath Merivale July 1805’. Louisa Drury married Francis Towne’s friend and pupil the barrister John Herman Merivale (1779-1844) on 10th July 1805, a week before the present drawing was executed. Merivale was also a poet and friend of Lord Byron who lived at Barton Place, Exeter. Louisa was the daughter of Joseph Drury (1750-1834) who was Headmaster at Harrow School. They had six sons and six daughters. Merivale was the beneficiary of Francis Towne’s estate and inherited most of his work.

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11 John ‘Warwick’ Smith (1749-1831) Walls near the Porta del Popolo, Rome Signed and inscribed verso: A sketch/near the Porta del Popolo at Rome/J Smith Watercolour over touches of pencil on laid paper 21.8 by 34.9 cm., 8 ¼ by 13 ½ in.

John ‘Warwick’ Smith spent five years in Italy, from 1776 until 1781 at the expense of his patron the 2nd Earl of Warwick. While there, he sketched with Thomas Jones and returned to England via Switzerland with Francis Towne.

Provenance: Jacques & Colette Ulmann, Paris

This watercolour is likely to depict the Muro Torto which runs between the Porta del Popolo and the Porta Pinciana below the Borghese Gardens. It was drawn by Thomas Jones (1742-1803) on 4th March 1777 (British Museum).

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12 John Augustus Atkinson (1775-1831) The Prince Regent accompanied by the Dukes of Wellington and York at the Opening of Waterloo Bridge, 18th June 1817 Signed lower right Pen and ink and grey wash and watercolour 21 by 42.3 cm., 8 ¼ by 16 ½ in.

Waterloo bridge was built between 1811 and 1817 and was originally called Strand Bridge, its name being changed by an Act of Parliament in 1816 to commemorate Wellington’s victory in the famous battle. The official opening, on 18th June 1817, was a cause for national excitement and was depicted by a number of artists, including Ramsay Richard Reinagle and perhaps most famously John Constable (Tate Gallery, London). The Times reported the following day: ‘The banks of the Thames, from Blackfriars-bridge to Whitehall, were immensely crowded by noon with all

descriptions of persons of both sexes, from the curious of the lowest order up to the elegance of the highest fashion.’ Just after 3 o’clock the Prince Regent arrived on the Royal Barge followed by the Lord Mayor’s Barge. He disembarked at the south-east corner of the bridge and ascended the steps. He is depicted in the centre of the group of figures, in military uniform, and wearing the Garter Star and Sash. His brother, also in military uniform is on his right, whilst the Duke of Wellington, depicted in his Field Marshall’s uniform with the Garter Star and Sash and wearing his various honours, is on the Prince’s left.

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13 Sir Robert Ker Porter (1777-1842) An album of Figure studies from travels through France and Russia Forty-one, many signed with initials and dated between 1814 and 1816 Pen and ink and watercolour on laid paper, mounted onto a sheet in the album, within original wash lines Each sheet approx. 17.2 by 10.8 cm., 6 ¼ by 4 ½ in.

Provenance: Sir Raymond Smith KBE (1917-2002) Sir Robert Ker Porter had a distinguished career as a painter, writer and diplomat, and was knighted in 1812 by the Prince Regent. At the age of 13, he entered the Royal Academy Schools on the encouragement of Benjamin West. His earliest commissions were altarpieces, but his interest lay in military subjects. He made his name with the exhibition of a monumental panorama depicting the Storming of Seringapatam, at the Lyceum Exhibition Room, London, in 1800. It was about 40m long with 700 life-size figures, extending in a ¾ circle. As a result of this work, Porter was invited to Russia

by Tsar Alexander I in 1805 to decorate the admiralty in St Petersburg. Porter clearly fell in love with the country (and a Russian Princess, who became his wife) and returned to Russia frequently throughout his life, often for long periods. In 1825, he was appointed British Consul in Venezuela, where he spent 15 years in Caracas.

His wife, Mary, daughter of Theodor de Scherbatoff, whom he had married in 1811, died in 1826, but in 1841 he returned to Russia to see his daughter, who was married to a Russian army officer. He died suddenly whilst in Russia and is buried in St Petersburg.

Porter published several illustrated books, on his various extended travels including Travelling Sketches in Russia and Sweden during the years 1805-7 (published 1809), Letters from Portugal and Spain, written during the March of the Troops under Sir John Moore, also published in 1809 and Travels in Georgia, Persia, Armenia, Ancient Babylonia 1817-20, published in two volumes in 1821.

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The present album of carefully detailed and annotated studies of French and Russian figures, are similar to some of the illustrations in Porter’s first travel book. The annotation on the French drawings as being at Chatillon in March 1814, is interesting as between 5th February and 5th March, the Allies (England, Russia, Austria, Prussia and other German states held a peace conference at Châtillon-sur-Seine in an effort to bring an end to the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon sent Armand-Augustin-Louis de Caulaincourt to negotiate. The Congress of Chatillon failed to bring about a peace, however by 31 March, Paris had fallen to the allies and by 4th April, Napoleon had surrendered.

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14 William Henry Hunt, O.W.S. (1790-1864) Sunrise over the sea Signed lower left W. Hunt Watercolour and black chalk 9.2 by 11.2 cm., 3 ¾ by 4 ½ in.

Provenance: Cyril Fry 16

Hunt was born near Covent Garden in London, where his father worked as a maker and decorator of tin ware. He showed an early aptitude for painting and his parents apprenticed him, age 14, to John Varley (see cat. nos. 18 & 19), one of the leading watercolourists of the period, with a thriving teaching practice. Through Varley he also became acquainted with Dr Thomas Monro (see cat. no. 9) and attended his informal evening academy both in London and at his country home in Bushey, Hertfordshire. In 1808, he entered the Royal Academy Schools.

15 William Henry Hunt, O.W.S. (1790-1864) Although later in life, his physical disability led him to concentrate on interior subjects, portraits and still lives, earlier on he studied extensively outdoors, working directly from the natural world; a practice Varley had encouraged. During the 1820s and 1830s, Hunt frequently spent his winters in the coastal town of Hastings where he likely drew the present watercolours. There he spent all his days, from early morning until dusk outside, capturing his surroundings, the buildings and the people of Hastings.

Beached Boats at Sunrise Watercolour and black chalk 12.6 by 22.3 cm., 5 by 8 ¾ in.

Provenance: Cyril Fry 17

16 Francis Danby, A.R.A. (1793-1861) Figures outside a Cottage, Ireland Signed lower centre: F. Danby Watercolour over pencil heightened with touches of bodycolour and stopping out with original pen and ink border 22 by 33.6 cm., 8 ½ by 13 ¼ in.

Danby was born in Ireland near Wexford, however, because of the Wexford Rebellion of 1798, a bloody uprising against the British which the Danby family got caught up in, they decided to move to Dublin. This moved enabled Francis to attend 18

the Dublin Society School of Drawing. He exhibited his first painting at the Society of Artists of Ireland in 1813 and the proceeds of its sale, financed Danby and two artist friends, George Petrie (1790-1860) and James Arthur O’Connor (1792-1841) to visit London. Initially intending to return to Ireland, Dandy reached Bristol, however, having sold some watercolours, he evidently decided to remain in England and establish his career. The present watercolour, in Danby’s early style, depicts an Irish view and dates from 1810-1815.

17 Newton Smith Limbird Fielding (1799-1856) A Dog chasing a Snipe Signed lower centre: Newton Fielding 1839.

Watercolour over pencil heightened with bodycolour 10.1 by 16 cm., 4 by 6 ¼ in.

Exhibited: London, Lowell Libson Ltd, Watercolours and Drawings, 15th November – 8th December 2006, no 41

Provenance: With Lowell Libson Ltd; Private collection, UK

Newton Fielding came from a family of artists: his four brothers and a sister, all became painters and trained under their father Nathan Theodore. He divided his time between Paris and London and established a reputation on both sides of the Channel for producing small-scale watercolours of animals and birds in landscape settings, delicately worked with a bold palette.

Literature: Lowell Libson Ltd, Watercolours and Drawings, London, 2006, cat. no. 41, illus.

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18 John Varley (1778-1842) Evening view near the Thames in Lambeth, London Signed lower right: J. Varley 1817 Watercolour over pencil heightened with stopping out 27.3 by 41 cm., 10 ¾ by 16 in.

Provenance: With Colnaghi, London, 1948; Michael Ingram, his sale Sotheby’s, 8th December 2005, lot 159; Anonymous sale, Sotheby’s, 9th July 2009, lot 124

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Exhibited: Ludlow Festival, 1983 This view taken in the back streets of Lambeth looks west towards the Thames with the spires of St John’s, Smith Square, visible across the river.

19 John Varley (1778-1842) A Mill on the Thames at Vauxhall, London Signed lower left: J. Varley Watercolour over pencil heightened with touches of bodycolour on laid paper 23.7 by 50.4 cm., 9 ¼ by 19 ¾ in.

This view across the Thames looking towards Pimlico and Westminster, appears to be taken from near Randall’s Mill, Battersea, and dates from 1815-20. The three-storey, stone built, tower mill was constructed in the 1760s by the creek of the River Effra (now underground and part of the London’s sewage network). It was the largest of the mills along the Battersea stretch of the Thames. John Varley produced another watercolour showing Randall’s Mill surrounded by buildings from the other side of the mill, showing how busy the site was in the 1830s.

Millbank penitentiary with its distinctive profile and high walls is visible across the Thames. Although it started taking prisoners in 1816, it was not fully completed until 1821. Built on a low lying and swampy area and there were several outbreaks of disease at the prison and it was eventually closed in 1890. Two years later, the decision was made to build the Tate Gallery on its site. Further to the right can be seen Westminster Abbey and Westminster Hall and the newly built Vauxhall Bridge.

Also opened in 1816 and initially called The Regent’s Bridge, it was the first iron bridge over the Thames in London.

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Late Works by David Cox 1844 to 1856 nos. 20 to 27 Nos. 20 to 27 are all drawn in Cox’s late style which has become synonymous with views of his beloved North Wales. From around 1840 Cox’s style became looser and more confident and his studio works became larger. His underdrawing is often in black chalk and he used a textured ‘oatmeal’ paper to add depth to his watercolours.

He experimented with increased use of bodycolour, gum arabic and scratching out in his exhibition watercolours (see nos. 20-23) whereas his plein air sketches (nos. 2427) were bolder and more impressionistic. He attempted to capture effects of weather in the landscape such as wind moving through trees, clouds scudding across the sky or rain moving across open spaces. Many of his late works are of North Wales. In first visited Wales in 1805 but returned every summer from 1844 to 1856 basing himself at Bettws-y-Coed.

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20 David Cox, O.W.S. (1783-1859) The Skirts of a Wood Signed and dated lower left: David Cox 1856 Watercolour over pencil, heightened with scratching out on oatmeal paper 52 by 73 cm., 20 ½ by 28 ¾ in.

Provenance: Private collection since the 1980s

21 David Cox, O.W.S. (1783-1859) Figures on the shore, looking out to sea, Penmaen Bach, North Wales Watercolour over pencil heightened with white and scratching out on oatmeal paper 44 by 67 cm., 17 ¼ by 26 ¼ in.

Provenance: By descent to Harriet Cox, the artist’s grand-daughter; Anonymous sale. Sotheby’s London, 9 April 1992, lot 73 Private collection, UK Cox was familiar with the subject in the present large-scale watercolour, having visited the area several times, including for the first time in the autumn of 1836, whilst

working on the series of illustrations for Thomas Roscoe’s two volume, Wanderings and Excursions in North Wales (1836) and Wanderings and Excursions in South Wales (1837).

The present watercolour looks across the beach towards Penmaen Bach, a small mountain which rises 245m above its surroundings, dominating this part of the Conwy coast. Thomas Roscoe, described this area as possessing a gloomy grandeur of character which I should in vain endeavour to describe (Thomas Roscoe, Wanderings and Excursions in North Wales, 1836, p. 190), however through adopting a dark palette and employing bold, loose strokes and broad washes, Cox has managed to perfectly convey the atmosphere and effects of the weather on this dramatic coast.

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22 David Cox, O.W.S. (1783-1859) Fishermen in a pool in a wooded landscape, possibly the Vale of Dolwyddelan, North Wales Signed and dated lower left, David Cox 1851 Watercolour over pencil heightened with scratching out on oatmeal paper 37 by 26.5 cm., 14 ½ by 10 ½ in.

Provenance: Anonymous sale, Christie’s 30 June 1922, lot 105 (145gns to Gooden and Fox) With Gooden and Fox, London; With Thos. Agnew & Sons (No. 2003); Anonymous sale, Christie’s 14 June 1983, lot 71; Private collection, UK.

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23 David Cox, O.W.S. (1783-1859) The Skirts of the Forest With a upright tree study verso Watercolour over black chalk 48.5 by 68.3 cm., 19 by 26 ¾ in.

Provenance: Arkwright Family, Hampton Court, Herefordshire This is a study for one Cox’s favourite subjects of the 1850s which he drew on a number of occasions. This version is more of a sketch and omits the figures in other versions. A related subject in the Birmingham Museum Art Gallery is titled ‘The

Frightened Flock’ and includes a farmer in the foreground chasing sheep and his sheepdog who are disappearing down the hill to the back left. N. Neal Solly in his biography of Cox describes a related picture as follows: ‘It represents part of old Sherwood Forest, a wild and grand subject, finely treated. There is a group of widespreading oaks on the left-hand side, one with a noble grey stem in the immediate foreground... a purple distance is seen rather high up in the picture, and the sky is low toned and grey; it is not so brilliant as some of his earlier works, but it is free and impressive.’ (N. Neil Solly, Memoir of the Life of David Cox, 1873, reprinted 1973, p.201).

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24 David Cox, O.W.S. (1783-1859) Study of a Tree, North Wales Black chalk and watercolour 18.6 by 26.6 cm., 7 ¼ by 10 ½ in.

Provenance: With The Fine Art Society, London, 1945; Private collection, Wiltshire until 2023 Exhibited: London, Fine Art Society, May 1945, no. 123 26

25 David Cox, O.W.S. (1783-1859) A Study of an Oak Tree, Kenilworth Castle beyond Pencil and watercolour, with a slight sketch of trees verso 21.3 by 28.2cm., 8 ¼ by 11 in.

Provenance: With Walker’s Galleries, London, 1960; John Marshall Esq; And by descent until 2023

Exhibited: London, Walker’s Galleries, Drawings by David Cox 1783-1859, April–May 1960, no. 11; London, Leicester Galleries, Exhibition of works by Artists as Collector’s, July–August 1963, no. 128

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26 David Cox, O.W.S. (1783-1859) Landscape with a distant Storm Pencil and watercolour 21 by 29 cm., 8 ¼ by 11 ¼ in.

Provenance: Private collection, Wiltshire until 2023 28

27 David Cox, O.W.S. (1783-1859) Study of a Valley - Evening Pencil and watercolour 21.2 by 29cm., 8 ¼ by 11 ½ in.

Provenance: Walker’s Galleries, London, 1960; John Marshall Esq: By descent until 2023

Exhibited: London, Walker’s Galleries, Drawings by David Cox 1783-1859, April–May 1960, no. 28; London, Leicester Galleries, Exhibition of works by Artists as Collectors, July–August 1963, no. 129

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28 Samuel Prout (1783-1852) The Piazzetta, Venice Pen and brown ink and watercolour over traces of pencil heightened with bodycolour 46.3 by 31.3 cm., 18 by 12 ¼ in.

Provenance: With John Spink, from whom bought by the present owner, November 2000 Literature: Timothy Wilcox, Samuel Prout 1783-1852 - A Grand Tour in Watercolour, p. 104, no.28, ill. p.105, also a detail ill. p.7 Exhibited: London, BADA Fair, Duke of York Square, Samuel Prout 1783-1852 - A Grand Tour in Watercolour, March 2017, no.28 Prout first visited Italy in 1824 and Venice quickly became a favoured subject matter.

This view looks south from St Mark’s Square towards San Giorgio Maggiore with the Doge’s Palace on the left.

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29 Samuel Prout (1783-1852) On the Grand Canal, Venice Pen and brown ink and watercolour over traces of pencil heightened with bodycolour 42 by 27.3 cm., 16 ½ by 10 ¾ in.

Provenance: With John Spink, from whom bought by the present owner, February 2008 Literature: Timothy Wilcox, Samuel Prout 1783-1852 - A Grand Tour in Watercolour, p. 96, no.25, ill. p.97 Exhibited: London, BADA Fair, Duke of York Square, Samuel Prout 1783-1852 - A Grand Tour in Watercolour, March 2017, no.25 The foreground column supports the façade of the Palazzo Contarini-Pisani just west of the Ca d’Oro. The use of columns to frame a view was a device used by Canaletto.

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30 Samuel Prout (1783-1852) Beached Boats on the South Coast, probably Hastings Watercolour over pencil heightened with bodycolour heightened with stopping out 28.6 by 37.8 cm., 11 ¼ by 14 ¾ in.

Provenance: With Thos Agnew & Sons, 1989 Exhibited: London, Thos. Agnew & Sons, 11th Exhibition of Watercolours and Drawings, 20th February to 17th March 1989, no.152 32

Prout’s first recorded visit to Hastings was in August 1815 and he lived there between 1837 and 1844. As there is no natural harbour at Hastings, fishing boats have to be pulled up onto the beach – a practice that continues today.

31 English School 1815 A Rainbow seen from Haddon Hall, Derbyshire Inscribed and dated verso: View from Haddon Hall/near Chatsworth/1815 Watercolour on original mount with washline border 26.8 by 42 cm., 10 ½ by 16 ½ in.

Haddon Hall, near Chatsworth in Derbyshire, originally dates from the 11th century and was the seat of the Dukes of Rutland until the 1740s when it was supplanted by Belvoir Castle. For many years therefore it was unoccupied until restoration began in 1912. Its romantic atmosphere attracted artists especially David Cox. 33

32 Miles Edmund Cotman (1810-1858) Seapiece - Moonlight Signed lower right: M.E. Cotman./1856 Watercolour heightened with bodycolour, stopping out and scratching out 36 by 46 cm., 14 by 18 in.

Provenance: By descent in the Cotman family until 2023

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Like his father, and other members of the Norwich School, Miles believed that studying directly from the natural world was crucial to furthering his artistic prowess.

In the present work, Miles’s interest in the formation of the waves and the play of clouds and moonlight is evident. Subject-wise this is typical of the work of his father.

33 Joseph Geldart (1808-1882) Portrait of the artist Miles Edmund Cotman Inscribed by a later hand verso: Miles Edmund Cotman/by Geldart Black and white chalk on brown paper 32.3 by 23.5 cm., 12 ¾ by 9 ¼ in.

Provenance: By descent in the Cotman family until 2023 Literature: Illustrated London News, 1st August 1942, p.136 Geldart was a close friend and sketching companion of Miles’ brother John Joseph Cotman. He abandoned a career in the law in favour of being an artist and became a pupil of John Sell Cotman. Geldart also sketched his friend John Joseph, also a chalk drawing which was later engraved.

Miles Edmund was the eldest son of John Sell Cotman. He and his brother John Joseph trained under their father and Miles first exhibited at the Norwich Society at the age of 13. In 1834, when Cotman senior was appointed drawing master at King’s College, London, Miles took over his father’s practice in Norwich. However, two years later, he swapped places with his brother John Joseph and moved to London to assist his father. On his father’s death in 1842, Miles took over his father’s professorship and remained in London until a couple of years before his death, when he returned to Norwich.

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34 David Roberts, R.A. (1796-1864) The town of Tiberias looking towards Lebanon, from the Ruins of the Roman Baths at the Hot Springs to the South of the City Inscribed lower left, Town of Tabarius looking towards Lebanon April 22nd 1839 and signed lower right, David Roberts R.A. Watercolour over pencil 24.2 by 34.2 cm., 9 ½ by 13 ½ in.

Provenance; With Thos. Agnew & Sons, 1968; Private collection, UK Exhibited: London, Thos. Agnew & Sons, 95th Annual Exhibition of Water-colours and Drawings, 15th January to 17th February 1968, no.44

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Engraved:

By Louis Haghe, as a lithograph, for David Robert’s, The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia, 1842, volume 1, pl. 35 David Roberts undertook an extended visit to the Near East in 1838-9, leaving London in the autumn. He arrived in Jerusalem at Easter 1839, before travelling onto Lebanon, leaving Beirut in May and arriving back in London in July. Roberts stated that this journey had provided him with sufficient material to inspire him for the rest of his career and he returned with ‘272 sketches, a panorama of Cairo and 3 full sketchbooks’ (Helen Guiterman and Briony Llewellyn, David Roberts, 1986, p. 69). This vast cache of work formed the basis for Roberts’s six volume The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia. Roberts visited the town of Tiberius, which lies on the west shore of the Sea of Galilee over two days on 21st and 22nd April. The town was largely destroyed by earthquake only a few years before Roberts’s visit.

35 David Roberts, R.A. (1796-1864) A View of the Temple of Al-Khazneh, Petra Inscribed lower left: Petra March 7.th 1839 Watercolour over pencil, heightened with white 26.8 by 33.8 cm., 10 ½ by 13 ¼ in.

Provenance: London, Fine Art Society, April 1949; King Abdullah I of Jordan (1882-1951); Sir William Strang, G.C.B., G.C.M.G., M.B.E., (1893-1978); And by family descent to 2023 Roberts arrived in Petra on 6th March and wrote in his diary for the 7th March, ‘I am more and more astonished and bewildered with this extraordinary city, which must be five or six miles each way in extent; and every ravine has been inhabited, even to

the tops of the mountains. The valley has been filled with temples, public buildings, triumphal arches, and bridges, all of which have been laid prostrate, with the exception of one arch, and one temple, and of this temple the portico has fallen. The style of the architecture varies from all I have ever seen, and in many of its parts is a curious combination of the Egyptian with the Roman and Greek orders. The stream still flows through it as heretofore; the shrubs and wild-flowers flourish luxuriantly; every crevice of the rock is filled with them, and the air is perfumed with the most delicate fragrance.’ (David Roberts, Egyptian and Holy Land Journal, 7th March 1839).

The present watercolour is one of the rapidly executed on the spot watercolours that Roberts produced during his journey and which served as the basis for the more highly finished watercolours that the artist executed on his return and which were then engraved.

For more in his journey see the note to no.34.

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36 James Holland (1799-1870) The Interior of Milan Cathedral, Italy Signed with initials lower left: JH/duomo Milano Watercolour over pencil heightened with touches of bodycolour 26.1 by 19.3 cm., 10 ¼ by 7 ½ in.

Provenance: With Thos Agnew & Sons, London This watercolour is likely to date from Holland’s first visit to Italy in the late summer and autumn of 1835. He crossed the Channel in late July in the company of his fellow artist Edward Ellis and visited Paris before reaching Geneva on 26th October. They then passed through Milan and Verona on their way to Venice. There are a number of recorded watercolours and paintings of the interior of Milan Cathedral by Holland.

This may relate to an oil exhibited at the Society of British Artists in 1845 entitled ‘Middle Aisle of the Cathedral of Milan during the Festival of St. Carlo Borromeo.’

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37 John Scarlett Davis (1804-1845) The Interior of Saint Eustache, Paris Signed with initials and dated lower right J S D 1836 Watercolour over pencil 25.7 by 18.4 cm, 10 ¼ by 7 ¼ in.

John Scarlett Davis was born in Herefordshire and gained early recognition for his art, winning a Silver palette from the Royal Society of Arts, at the age of just 11. He entered the Royal Academy Schools at 16 and subsequently established a reputation as a portrait painter in oils, as well as, a gifted watercolourist specialising in interior views, especially of churches and art galleries. Davis travelled extensively in Britain and more widely through Europe in search of suitable subjects and at the behest of his patrons.

The present watercolour depicts the nave of St Eustache Church from the West, with the high altar in the distance. The church, which served as the Royal Parish Church until 1789, was built between 1532 and about 1640, on the site of an earlier medieval church. Its long period of construction led to it being an eclectic architectural mix of Gothic and Renaissance styles. During the French Revolution, it was stripped out, with many of its historic objects disappearing, and used as a barn, renamed the Temple of Architecture; it was only formerly returned to being a church in 1803.

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38 Thomas Miles Richardson Junior, R.W.S. (1813-1890) On the river Findhorn looking towards Ross-shire Watercolour over pencil heightened with touches of bodycolour 31.5 by 50.1 cm., 12 ¼ by 19 ¾ in.

Richardson Junior trained under his father in Newcastle before moving to London in 1846. He travelled widely in Scotland and the north of England and later in the Swiss and Italian Alps and Lakes.

Located in the north-east of Scotland, the Findhorn is one of Scotland’s longest rivers and flows into the Moray Firth.

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39 Thomas Miles Richardson Junior, R.W.S. (1813-1890) Moor Scene, Lanarkshire - Rain passing away Signed lower left: T.M. Richardson Jun.r/1846 Watercolour over pencil heightened with bodycolour and gum arabic 42.4 by 70.8 cm., 16 ¾ by 27 ¾ in.

Provenance: Mr Griffiths, 1846; John William Pease (1836-1901), Pendower Hall, Benwell, Newcastle Exhibited: London, Society of Painters in Water-colours, 1846, no.144, bt. Griffiths for £6.5.0; Jarrow Mechanics’ Institute Exhibition, 1905 41

40 Samuel Palmer (1805-1881) In Vintage Time Signed lower left: S. PALMER 1861 Watercolour over pencil heightened with bodycolour and gum arabic 19.6 by 42.9 cm., 7 ¾ by 16 ¾ in.

Provenance: With Walker’s Galleries, London, in 1952; Acquired from them by a private collector; By descent until 2010

Literature: ‘Society of Painters in Water Colours [Second and Concluding Notice]’, The Illustrated London News, 8 June 1861, p.540; Alfred Herbert Palmer, Samuel Palmer: A Memoir, London, 1882, p.87; Alfred Herbert Palmer, The Life and Letters of Samuel Palmer, Painter and Etcher, London, 1892, [1972 ed.], p.411, no.107; Raymond Lister, Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of Samuel Palmer, New York, 1988, p.188, no.582; London, The Fine Art Society, The Fine Art Society 1876-2016: A Celebration, 2016, p.58, no.25.

Exhibited: London, Society of Painters in Water-Colours, 1861, no.216 (‘In Vintage Time’); London, Walker’s Galleries, 48th Annual Exhibition of Early English Water-Colours, 1952, no.86 (as ‘The End of Day’); London, The Fine Art Society, The Fine Art Society 1876-2016: A Celebration, 2016, no.25

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41 Edward Lear (1812-1888) Santa Maria della Salute, Venice Inscribed lower right: Venice Nov. 15. 1865. 4.30.PM (24) and lower left: SM. Salute deep purple Pen and brown ink and watercolour over traces of pencil 15.9 by 25.2 cm., 6 ¼ by 9 ¾ in.

Despite living in Italy for large periods of his life, Lear only made two visits to Venice.

His first trip had been in 1857 and his second November 1865, when the artist was en route to Malta, to make a series of studies for a painting commissioned by his great friend and patron, Frances Lady Waldegrave (1821-1879). His first visit to the city had not been a success; writing to Ann, his sister on 23rd May 1857, he stated, ‘I may as well shock you a good thumping shock at once by saying I don’t care for it a bit. I never wish to see it again’. (Vivien Noakes ed, Edward Lear Selected Letters, 1988, p. 147). In 1865 he found the city far more to his liking. In a letter to Edward

Drommond, he described Venice as ‘this city of palaces, pigeons, poodles & pumpkins…is a wonder and a pleasure’. (A. Davidson, Edward Lear, 2nd ed. 1950, p.

159). He was captivated by the light, the dramatic sunsets and the play of light on the water and on the architecture. In his diary for November 16th, he wrote, ‘Anything so incredibly beautiful as the colour of the place I never saw, perhaps Cairo and parts of Constantinople’. (Edward Lear diaries 1858-1888, Mss Eng. 793.3 (8) Houghton Library Harvard University Cambridge Mass. Seq. 164).

In his diary for the day that the present watercolour was drawn Lear wrote, ‘7th day at Venice. Slept well - & rose about 6.30. The early dawn is wonderful here – with black sails against the bright orange horizon…The Venetians are most courteous & amiable & it is the nicest town to draw in I was ever in…from 11.30 to 4.30 worked hard at planning out the architecture of the drawings I have begun…Was there ever such a place of sunsets? Such gorgeous colour?’ (Edward Lear diaries 1858-1888, ibid).

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42 Fanny E. Thomas (late 19th Century) A Pair of studies of fish in Brighton Aquarium: The Garden of the Nereides; Gurnards from the Brighton Pavilion A pair, each signed and dated 1880 and 1881 Watercolour heightened with bodycolour and scratching out 41cm by 56 cm., 16 ¼ by 22 in. and 41.3 by 56 cm, 16 ¼ by 22 in. respectively Relatively little is known about Ms Fanny E Thomas who lived in Shortlands Kent and possibly also in Brighton. In 1880, she exhibited in London, two pictures at the Grosvenor Gallery, as well as a further picture at the Suffolk Street Gallery.

Brighton Aquarium was one of the earliest aquariums in the country. Inspired by the one at Boulogne, it was conceived and designed by Eugenius Birch, the architect responsible for the West Pier. Work began in 1869 and the ornate building, with its pillared and arched interior, initially opened in 1872. Its roof terrace opened two years later followed shortly afterwards by further attractions including a music conservatory, roller skating rink, smoking room and café. The project cost £133,000 (equivalent to around £5.5 million today). Amongst its early attractions was an octopus, with the first sea lions arriving in 1877.

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43 Edith Martineau (1842-1909) Meadowsweet beside a burn, at the Polchar, Inverneshire Signed and dated lower left Edith Martineau 1883, further inscribed and dated verso, Meadowsweet at Polchar, August 1883 Watercolour heightened with white and with scratching and stopping out 25.5 by 19 cm, 10 by 7 ½ in.

Provenance: With the Dudley Gallery, London 1910; With the Maas Gallery, London Exhibited: London, Dudley Gallery, An exhibition of watercolour drawings by the late Edith Martineau, Getrude Martineau and oil paintings by Mrs Basil Martineau, 28th January – 18th February 1910, no. 99 Literature: Dudley Gallery, Catalogue of an Exhibition of Water-Colour Drawings by the late Edith Martineau, Gertrude Martineau and Oil Paintings by Mrs Basil Martineau, 1910, no. 99 Edith was the daughter of the celebrated religious philosopher and utilitarian divine, Rev. James Martineau (1805-1900), whose sister was the author and social theorist Harriet Martineau. She and her sister Gertrude were part of a small group of female artists associated with the Pre-Raphaelites. Together they held an exhibition of views of the Rothiemurchus estate at the Modern Gallery, Bond Street in 1906 and following her sister’s death, Gertrude had a further exhibition of her and her late sister’s work at the Dudley Gallery in 1910.

From 1877 until his death, Edith’s father leased The Polchar, a cottage on the Rothiemurchus estate, near Aviemore. It was designed by Sir John Grant and built circa 1805 as a Gamekeeper’s Cottage. The Rev. James extended the cottage during his tenure and he and his unmarried daughters, affectionately known as ‘the Spinnies’, as well as the rest of his family, spent their time between the cottage and their London home, 35 Gordon Square. The present watercolour depicts the Milton burn which flows through the Rothiemurchus estate, the seat of the Grant family since the 16th Century.

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Index A Atkinson, J.A.

Page 12

G Gainsborough, T. Geldart, J.

C Cotman, M.E. Cox, D.

32 20-27

H Holland, J. Hunt, W.H.

D Danby, F. Davis, J.S. Drury, L.H.

16 37 10

E English School

2, 31

F Fielding, N.S.L. Frost, G.

17 5-6

L Lear, E.

3-4 33

36 14-15

41

M Martineau, E. Monro, T.

43 9

P Palmer, S. Porter, Sir R.K. Prout, S.

40 13 28-30

R Richardson, T.M. Roberts, D. Robins, T. Romney, G.

38-39 34-35 1 7

S Smith, J.W.

11

T Thomas, F.E.

42

V Varley, J.

18-19

W Ward, J.

8

Guy Peppiatt Fine Art Ltd Riverwide House, 6 Mason’s Yard Duke Street, St James’s, London SW1Y 6BU Tel: +44 (0) 7956 968 284 guy@peppiattfineart.co.uk www.peppiattfineart.co.uk Opposite: (42) Fanny E. Thomas (late 19th Century)

one of a pair of studies of fish in Brighton Aquarium Design: sarahagarwood@outlook.com 46

GUY PEPPIATT FINE ART Riverwide House, 6 Mason’s Yard, Duke Street, St James’s, London SW1Y 6BU