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Overturned windmill on Barnes Common after a storm

Maker

(artist)
1738-1806

Title

Date of Production

(October) 1780

Medium

graphite, pen and grey ink, grey wash and watercolour on laid paper, laid down on historic mount

Dimensions

Height: 21 cm
Width: 27.2 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.3863

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

According to a contemporary inscription on the reverse, this drawing was produced ‘on the spot’, illustrating the mill on Barnes Common in London as it appeared after a violent storm. Edwards, who also produced a written account of the event, displays a documentary interest in the immediate effects of destruction. The light sky and barren surroundings here suggest the quiet aftermath of devastation. The bold ‘X’ shape of the toppled mill creates a dramatic effect at the centre of the scene.

Notes

The artist, Edward Edwards, read a paper at the Royal Society describing the hurricane which occurred on 15 October 1780, and the paper was published in 1781. The paper was illustrated by four etchings, including one after this watercolour. The British Museum has two copies of the etching, one uncoloured and one with added hand tinting (see 1859,1008.365 and 1920,0512.98).

Provenance

Walker Galleries (London); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b, n.d. (£12); 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

Literature

Postle, Martin, 'Edward Edwards' in 'Oxford Dictionary of National Biography', https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/8533 published in print 23 September 2004; updated online 21 May 2009
unpag.

Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 18

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: lower centre, but unable to see clearly due to mount.

Inscription: Mount (historic), Recto: lower right, grey ink, signed and dated: “E.E 1780”. Mount (historic), Verso: upper centre, brown ink: “The Mill on Barns [sic] Common as it appeared / after the Storm of the 15th of October 1780 / by EEdwards A R.A / E. Edwards ARA [this added in a lighter brown ink] / drawn upon the Spot”.

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

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