18th and 19th Century Drawings and Watercolours 2006 Guy Peppiatt started his working life at Dulwich Picture Gallery before joining Sotheby’s British Pictures department in 1993. He soon specialised in early British drawings and watercolours and took over the running of Sotheby’s Topographical sales. Topographical views whether they be of Britain or worldwide have remained an abiding interest. He was later appointed Head of the British Watercolour department and oversaw a number of important auctions. Guy left Sotheby’s in early 2004 and now works as a private dealer based at his home in West London.
He has a yearly exhibition of early drawings and watercolours as well as exhibiting at fairs. He also advises clients on their collections, buys and sells on their behalf and can provide insurance valuations.
2 18th and 19th Century Drawings and Watercolours
GUY PEPPIATT FINE ART 7 Cromwell Crescent London SW5 9QN Tel: 020 7370 0036 Mb: 07956 968 284 [email protected] By appointment only
Exhibition at John Mitchell Fine Paintings 44 Old Bond Street London W1S 4AF 5th June – 17th June
3 1 PAUL SANDBY, R.A. (1730-1809) Watermill on the River Exe, Devon
Watercolour over pencil 20.5 by 27.5cm., 8 by 10p inches
Provenance: Lord Brownlow; L.R. Abel Smith; Walter Brandt; Anonymous sale, Sotheby’s, 13th November 1980, lot 158
Exhibited: Ickworth House, Suffolk, English Watercolours of the Great Period, 11 May – 9 June 1968, no.57
4 2 Provenance: Blofeld; JONATHAN SKELTON (1735-1759) Sir Henry Theobald, his sale, Sotheby’s, A Castle on a Hill by a River 13th May 1925, part lot 146 or 149
Watercolour over pencil on laid paper Literature: 14.2 by 21.8cm., 52 by 82 inches S. Rowland Pierce, ‘Jonathan Skelton and his Watercolours’, Walpole Society, vol.XXXVI, 1960, Skelton is a rare early watercolour artist who died one of no. 66-75 young and little is known about his life. He worked in Croydon, London, Rochester and went to Italy in Exhibited: 1757 where he died, in Rome, two years later. Martin Colnaghi, English Drawings and Watercolours, Hardie calls his work ‘an important landmark in the 17th May – 17th June 1972, no.27, ill. in catalogue, earlier stages of English water-colour’ (see Martin pl.XIIIB Hardie, Water-colour Painting in Britain, vol. I, the Eighteenth Century, 1966, p.70)
5 3 THE HON. MRS HENRIETTA ANNE FORTESCUE (c.1765-1841) Trinity Chain Bridge on the River Forth, Newhaven, Edinburgh
Inscribed with title lower centre, signed and dated 6th August 1823 lower right and numbered 109 upper left Pen and brown ink and grey wash over pencil 16.8 by 33.3cm., 62 by 13 inches
This shows the Trinity Chain Pier at Newhaven shortly after it was built by Sir Samuel Brown (1774-1851) in 1821. It was destroyed in a storm in 1898. The village of Newhaven is beyond the bridge and the island of Inchkeith is visible in the Firth of Forth.
The artist was the daughter of Sir Richard Hoare, 1st Bt and brother of Sir Richard Colt Hoare. She married firstly Sir T.D. Acland, 9th Bt. And secondly in 1795, Captain the Hon. Mathew Fortescue, R.N., brother of the first Earl Fortescue. She was an enthusiastic and talented amateur artist who painted in Italy, the Pyrenees, Scotland and the Lake District and supplied continental views for her friend and teacher Francis Nicholson (see no.5) to copy.
4 PATRICK NASMYTH (1787-1831) A Waterfall in a Rocky Landscape
Signed lower right: P. NASMYTH Watercolour and pencil heightened with white and gum arabic 22.2 by 27.2cm., 8 by 10p inches
This is a rare watercolour by this Scottish artist. The eldest son of the artist Alexander Nasmyth (1758-1840), he moved from Edinburgh to London in 1808 and exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1811. He worked more in oil but the free handling of the present work is typical of his style in watercolour.
Provenance: Sir Bruce Ingram (collector’s mark verso); Michael Ingram (collector’s mark verso)
6 5 transformed the area into a ‘beautiful wilderness', creating grottos and surprise views, glades, rustic temples embedded in FRANCIS NICHOLSON (1753-1844) groves of trees, waterfalls and follies, many of which can still Hackfall Wood near Ripon, Yorkshire be found today.
Watercolour over pencil heightened with scratching out Nicholson was born in Pickering, Yorkshire and until 1803 28.7 by 41.2cm., 114 by 16 inches when he moved to London he lived in various Yorkshire towns including Whitby from 1783 until 1792. He Set in a 350 foot gorge on the edge of Grewelthorpe on the specialised throughout his career in Yorkshire views, many of river Ure, Hackfall Wood is among the finest examples of which he sold at Scarborough during the ‘Season’ there. He ancient woodland in North Yorkshire and was a favourite first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1789 and was a spot for artists including J.M.W. Turner in the nineteenth founding member of the Old Watercolour Society in 1804. century. It owed its popularity during its Victorian heyday He was very successful in his lifetime as a drawing master and not entirely to nature. The 110-acre wood was bought in became a lifelong friend of one his pupils, Henrietta Anne 1731 by John Aislabie, famous for his landscaping work at Fortescue (see no.3). nearby Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal. His son William
7 6 JOHN INIGO RICHARDS, R.A. (c.1720-1810) Tonbridge Castle, Kent
Signed l.l.: J.R./R.A. 1796 and inscribed l.c.: Tunbridge Castle 704 Pen and brown ink and watercolour on laid paper 24 by 35cm., 92 by 13p inches
Richards is an early topographical artist who was one of the founding members of the Royal Academy and its Secretary from 1791 until his death.
Provenance: Mrs Elinor Williams; Dudley Snelgrove
Literature: Huon Mallalieu, The Dictionary of British Watercolour Artists up to 1920, 1979, vol. II, p.490, repr.
7 FRANCIS WHEATLEY, R.A. (1747-1801) A Woman washing clothes outside a Cottage
Pen and grey ink and watercolour, oval 17.6 by 22.7cm., 7 by 9 inches
Wheatley was born in London but in 1779 he eloped to Dublin with wife of the artist J.A. Gresse but returned to London in 1783-4. The present watercolour is typical of his sentimental subject matter. Two upright oval watercolours by him are in the Victoria & Albert Museum.
8 8 JOHN ‘WARWICK’ SMITH (1749-1831) View of the Ruins of Conway Castle on the River Conway taken from the South
Watercolour over traces of pencil heightened with touches of bodycolour 13 by 21.7cm., 5 by 82 inches
Provenance: Anonymous sale, Sotheby’s, 13th November 1980, lot 76
9 9 winner. Seven horses took part each carrying twelve stone. The first four day meeting took place in 1768 and the first JOHN NIXON (1760-1818) permanent stand was not erected until 1794, three years after The Royal Meeting at Ascot, 1791 the present watercolour was executed, and held 1,650 people. It was called the Royal Stand and was used until 1838. Inscribed upper left: Ascot Heath Races 28 June 1791 Pen and grey ink and watercolour over pencil Nixon was an amateur caricaturist who worked as a merchant 13.8 by 21.5cm., 54 by 82 inches in business with his brother in London. His work shows the influence of the best known caricaturist of the period Thomas This is a rare early view of horseracing at Ascot. Racing first Rowlandson (nos. 10, 19 and 20), with whom he sometimes took place at Ascot (then called ‘East Cote’) on 11th August travelled on sketching tours, and like the present drawing are 1711 after Queen Anne while out riding near Windsor Castle often lively in execution. A view by Nixon entitled ‘Ascot came across an area of open heath that looked ideal for Heath Race Ground’ dated 1814 was sold at Christie’s on ‘horses to gallop at full stretch.’ The first race was called Her 5th March 1974, lot 39. Majesty’s Plate over four miles and worth 100 guineas to the
10 10 Rowlandson drew a number of horse racing subjects but the THOMAS ROWLANDSON (1756-1827) present watercolour dates from a group executed in circa 1790. They all depict horses in the foreground at or near the Horse Racing on Epsom Downs finishing post with spectators in the foreground and further spectators on horseback in the distance. They also all have the Pen and grey ink and watercolour on laid paper tightness of style associated with Rowlandson’s work from the 16 by 22.5cm., 64 by 8p inches 1780s and early 1790s. One from this group is recorded in the Earl of Halifax’s collection and another also of Racing at This shows horses approaching the finishing post at Epsom. Epsom was sold at Sotheby’s New York on 16th November Racing on Epsom Downs was first recorded in 1661 and the 1979, lot 110. A later view of Racing at Epsom was sold at Derby has been run there since 1780. It was originally run Sotheby’s London on 12th April 1995, lot 23. over a straight mile until the course was extended to include Tattenham Corner in 1784 to make it the current distance of a mile and a half.
11 ELLIS CORNELIA KNIGHT (1757-1837) (Nos. 11-18) Ellis Cornelia Knight was born in London, the daughter of Rear-Admiral Sir Joseph Knight. Sir Joshua Reynolds, Samuel Johnson and Angelica Kaufmann (a portrait of Cornelia by her is in the Manchester City Art Gallery) were family friends. Her father died in 1775 and soon afterwards she moved with her mother to Rome for financial reasons (‘the cheapest city in the world and the most beautiful’). They remained in Rome until the French invaded in 1798 and they fled to Naples where she befriended Sir William and Lady Hamilton and later 11 Nelson. As the French moved south they moved on to Palermo where Lady Knight died. Cornelia ELLIS CORNELIA KNIGHT (1757-1837) returned to England by boat with the Hamiltons and The interior of the Colosseum, Rome Nelson in 1800 after over twenty years living abroad. In 1805 she was appointed Companion to Queen Inscribed verso: Veduta fatta nel Colosseo a Roma Charlotte and later took up the same position for Pen and brown and grey ink and watercolour over pencil on laid paper Princess Charlotte. From 1816 until her death in 32.2 by 50.2cm., 112 by 19p inches Paris, she travelled round the courts of Europe using the connections she had made in London. Cornelia and her mother Lady Knight arrived in Rome in 1778 and after ten day’s frantic sightseeing declared it the finest city in the world. She was a keen draughtsman, her mother records Lady Knight records how rambling round Rome with a sketchbook was that her daughter had made 550 drawings and Cornelia’s favourite pursuit. They visited the Colosseum by moonlight paintings by 1781, few of which seem to have and ‘smothered in enough vegetation to satisfy the most ardent follower survived. A group of ten watercolours by her with of the picturesque’ (Luttrell, op. cit., p.56). similar inscriptions in Italian were sold at Sotheby’s on 28th November 2002, lots 237-246. She was also a talented author, publishing several books, and linguist. Her autobiography was published in 1861 and a biography in 1965, ‘The Prim Romantic – a Biography of Ellis Cornelis Knight’ by Barbara Luttrell.
12 12 ELLIS CORNELIA KNIGHT (1757-1837) The Palatine Hill from the steps of San Gregorio Magno, Rome
Inscribed verso: ….. and Palatine/vedute da San Gregorio Roma Pen and brown ink and watercolour over pencil on laid paper 32.7 by 49.6cm., 12p by 192 inches
This shows the Roman Forum from the south-east. To the left is the tower of the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin. The Palatine has the most distinguished history of any of the Roman Hills and was home to Roman Emperors and the Imperial Court
13 13 ELLIS CORNELIA KNIGHT (1757-1837) View from San Michele in Bosco, Bologna
Inscribed on part of old mount: No 22./Veduta presa da San Michele in bosco/Bologna Pen and brown and grey ink and watercolour over pencil on laid paper 33.6 by 46cm., 134 by 18 inches
This view is taken from the Church of San Michele in Bosco to the south of Bologna which provides fine views of the city and the surrounding countryside. Cornelia visited Bologna with Lady Knight on her way from Genoa back to Rome in April 1791. They only stayed long enough to see the sights and for Cornelia to sketch.
14 ELLIS CORNELIA KNIGHT (1757-1837) A Galleria at the Villa Barberini, Castel Gandolfo
Inscribed verso: Galleria di Domigliano (?)/in Villa Barberini/Castel Gandolfo Pen and grey ink and watercolour over pencil on laid paper watermarked with a fleur de lys 31.9 by 48.2cm., 112 by 19 inches
Castel Gandolfo sits above Lake Albano about twenty miles south-east of Rome in the Alban Hills and is the summer residence of the Pope. Cornelia spent the summer of 1779 in Castel Gandolfo and stayed on into the autumn as smallpox broke out in Rome. Luttrell records that ‘Cornelia, steeped as she was in classical authors, responded to the landscape and atmosphere of the Campagna with all the eagerness of a pilgrim arriving at a long-anticipated shrine’ and it ‘provided the youthful artist with material for innumerable elegant sketches’ (op. cit., p.62-3).
14 15 ELLIS CORNELIA KNIGHT (1757-1837) View of Tivoli near Rome taken from the Strada di Sant’Antonio
Inscribed on part of old mount: 90/Veduta di parte di Tivoli/dalla Strada di Sant’Antonio Pen and grey ink and watercolour over pencil on laid paper 31.9 by 47.2cm., 122 by 182 inches
Tivoli is dramtically situated on the lower slopes of the Sabine hills east of Rome across the Campagna. This shows a view of Tivoli from the east, with the columns of the Temple of Vesta visible to the left and the campanile of the Cathedral to the right. Cornelia may have drawn this whilst staying at Castelgandolfo in the summer of 1779. The similarity in style and colouring with no.18 suggests they were drawn on the same trip.
15 16 ELLIS CORNELIA KNIGHT (1757-1837) The Temple of Venus at Baia near Naples
Inscribed on part of old mount: No.37/Temple of Venus/at Baia near Naples Pen and brown ink and watercolour over pencil on laid paper 33.7 by 47.3cm., 134 by 182 inches
Cornelia and Lady Knight arrived in Naples on 5th May 1785 and they soon befriended Sir William Hamilton who was British Ambassador to Naples for twenty- two years and they were frequent visitors to his house the Palazzo Sessa. Soon after their arrival, in April 1786, Emma Hart, later the famous Emma Hamilton, was installed there.
Baia is set in its own bay on the western side of the Gulf of Puzzuoli to the west of Naples and was a favourite resort of the Roman nobility. The ruined octagonal Temple of Venus stands close to the shore.
17 ELLIS CORNELIA KNIGHT (1757-1837) Figures by the Temple of Venus at Baia near Naples
Inscribed on part of old mount: No.36/Tempio do Venere, Baia. Pen and brown ink and watercolour over pencil on laid paper 32.6 by 45.6cm., 12p by 18 inches
16 18 ELLIS CORNELIA KNIGHT (1757-1837) The Convent of San Cosimato and the Claudian Aqueduct at Vicovaro near Rome
Inscribed on part of old mount: No 103/Convento e ponte di/San Cosimato Pen and brown ink and watercolour over pencil on laid paper 31.8 by 44.7cm., 112 by 172 inches
The Convent stands at the narrowest point of the valley of the Aniene near Vicovaro about thirty miles east of Rome. It was a popular site for artists – Richard Wilson painted almost exactly this view. Vicovaro is not far from Tivoli and the similarity in style and colouring with no.15 suggests they were drawn on the same trip possibly in the summer of 1779.
17 19 THOMAS ROWLANDSON (1756-1827) Hazard Players
Inscribed: Rowlandson and on old mount: Hazard Players Pen and ink and wash 7.7 by 16.2cm., 3 by 6p inches
Provenance: Henry Reitlinger (collector’s mark verso)
A contemporary account records that Rowlandson was ‘known at many of the fashionable gaming houses, [and] alternatively won and lost without emotion, till at length he was minus several thousand pounds….. He….frequently played throughout a night and the next day; and… once, such was his infatuation for the dice, he continued at the gaming table nearly thirty-six hours, with the intervention only of the time for refreshment, which was supplied by a cold collation’ (see ‘Rowlandson’, The London Literary Gazette, no.536, 28 April 1827, p.268).
20 THOMAS ROWLANDSON (1756-1827) Black Tor near Camelford, Cornwall
Signed lower right: Rowlandson 1801 and inscribed with title lower left Watercolour over pencil with original washline mount 15 by 24cm., 6 by 92 inches
This is rare in Rowlandson’s oeuvre in being a pure landscape with no figures. Iolo Williams mentions that ‘Rowlandson’s contribution as a watercolour landscape artist… must not be forgotten either, for it is often of great beauty’ (Iolo Williams, Early English Watercolours, 1970, p.141) and he could have been talking about the present watercolour when he writes: ‘Here too are unexpected things, such as slight impressions, consisting of loose pale washes of colour over a few very free traces of pencil’ (op. cit.).
Rowlandson was a regular visitor to Cornwall to see his friend and patron the banker Matthew Michell. Michell’s country house, Hengar House, was six miles north of Bodmin and Rowlandson enjoyed sketching in the surrounding countryside – the River Camel passed through his grounds.
18 21 MOSES GRIFFITH (1747-1819) Llandegai Church and Bridge, Carnarvonshire, North Wales
Inscribed verso: Llandegai Church & Bridge Pen and brown ink and watercolour over pencil on laid paper 22.8 by 29.8cm., 9 by 11p inches
Moses Griffith was unusual as an artist in that he was employed solely by the Pennant family of Downing in Flintshire throughout his working life. He was born at Trygarn on the Llyn peninsula, Caernarvonshire and entered the service of Thomas Pennant (1726-1798) in 1769 living all his life on the Pennant estate at Gwibnant. He accompanied Thomas Pennant on all his tours of Britain except one producing watercolours and continued working for his son David after Thomas’s death in 1798. He is best known for his views of North Wales and produced the illustrations for Thomas Pennant’s three volume ‘Tours in Wales.’
Llandegai lies 12 miles south-east of Bangor. In the far right distance Penrhyn Castle is just visible in the trees. At this date it was still a medieval manor house before being transformed into a 19th century neo-Norman fantasy castle by the architect Thomas Hopper in 1827 by another member of the Pennant family, George Dawkins Pennant.
22 WILLIAM PAYNE (1760-1830) Marine Barracks, Longroom and Mt Edgcumbe taken from near Stonehouse Hill, Plymouth
Watercolour over traces of pencil 36 by 52.2cm., 14 by 202 inches
A smaller version of this watercolour is in Plymouth Art Gallery. Another engraving of this subject by Payne was published by John and Josiah Boydell on 1st January 1789.
19 23 JOHN VARLEY (1778-1842) Study of a Boat on the Thames
Signed lower left: J Varley Pencil 6 by 17cm., 24 by 6p inches
24 PAUL SANDBY, R.A. (1730-1809) Study of a Brewer’s Dray
Pen and grey ink and wash on laid paper 6.7 by 10.2cm., 3 by 4 inches
Provenance: With Spink and Son
25 JOHN NIXON (1760-1818) A Fishmarket, Brighton
Inscribed lower left: Brighton Watercolour over pencil 9.4 by 14.9cm., 3p by 5p inches
Provenance: Christie’s, 29th March 1983, lot 60 (part) 20