Open IIIF manifest What is IIIF IIIF viewers

Conflagration at the Tower of London of 1841

Maker

John Christian Schetky (artist)
1778-1874

Title

Date of Production

1800 - 1899

Medium

graphite, black chalk, pen and brown ink, watercolour and bodycolour on paper, laid down, with all four corners made up

Dimensions

Height: 34.2 cm
Width: 46 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.3430

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

On the night of October 30, 1841, a fire broke out at the Tower of London. The spectacle of an iconic building in flames incited a strong response from the city’s inhabitants, who flocked to the scene in alarm and curiosity. Rather than reflecting on ruins from a temporal distance, this dramatic image illustrates destruction in the moment of its occurrence. As red and orange flames vividly illuminate the sky and water, the Tower’s shape is emphatically highlighted in white.

Provenance

A. Berthel, Surrey; purchased from him by Colnaghi (London), 30 September 1942; purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), 3 January 1944 (£8); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Special Display - Building and Destruction - Architectural Imagery from the Courtauld's Drawings Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 01/10/2009-17/01/2010

British Life, New Burlington Galleries, London, 29/05/1953-11/07/1953

Some British Drawings from the Collection of Sir Robert Witt, Arts Council of Great Britain, 1948

Literature

Imms, Matthew, 'Fire at the Tower of London Sketchbook 1841’, in 'J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours', Tate Research Publications September 2014, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/fire-at-the-tower-of-london-sketchbook-r1148238
yes

Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 45

Some British Drawings from the Collection of Sir Robert Witt, Arts Council of Great Britain, 1948
no. 71

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: unable to check as is laid down.

Collector's mark: none.

Inscription: none.

Information on this object may be incomplete and will be updated as research progresses. We are particularly committed to addressing any discriminatory or offensive language and ideas that might be present in our records. To help improve this record, and to enquire about images of The Courtauld Gallery Collection, please email gallery.collectionsonline@courtauld.ac.uk. Find out more about using and licensing our images.

____________________________

Buy a print from our collection