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Landscape with large oak tree

Maker

(artist)
1751-1812

Title

Date of Production

(circa) 1790 - 1812

Medium

traces of graphite, pen and brown ink, grey and brown wash on laid paper

Dimensions

Height: 25.4 cm
Width: 20.6 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.3347

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

The imposing oak that fills this sheet is one of a large group of 'portraits' of trees by Heaneage Finch, a talented amateur artist. His sensitivity to varied textures is apparent in his handling of the trunk, where careful layering of pen and wash evokes the roughness of the bark. The drawing's probable date of creation, during the Napoleonic Wars, suggests that Finch may have been alluding to notions of British strength and liberty, of which oaks were a common symbol.

Provenance

Nicholson (London); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b, probably between 23 - 27 October 1943 (£4); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Drawings Gallery Display - Regarding Trees, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 18/06/2016-25/09/2016

Literature

Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 3

Inscriptions

Watermark: Verso: left centre edge, formed of double lines: “FABRIANO” (the "F" larger than the rest of the word; no match found in Heawood or online).

Collector's mark: Verso: lower left, stamped in black ink: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

Inscription: Verso: upper left, graphite, circled: "1393"; upper centre, graphite: "Aylesford, Earl of / 1751-1812". Mount (removed): Verso: upper right, graphite: "Lord Aylesford 3347" [Witt inscription]; centre left, typed on paper pasted to mount: "85"

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