by-nc

Old Windsor Green (recto)

Maker

(artist)
1725-1809

Title

Old Windsor Green (recto)

Date of Production

1762

Medium

graphite, pen and grey ink, watercolour on two sheets of laid paper joined together; now laid down on Japanese tissue; according to Spooner 2005 exh. cat., there is a verso sketch in graphite of a tree at the left edge, but this is not currently visible through the backing and handling edges

Dimensions

Height: 35.1 cm
Width: 79.4 cm

Accession Number

D.1967.WS.86

Mode of Acquisition

William Wycliffe Spooner, bequest, 1967

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords



Label Text

Described by Gainsborough as ‘the only man of genius who has painted real views from nature in this country’, Sandby introduced radical innovations in British landscape practice, made possible by his early experience as a military topographer. For this view of an inn at Windsor, Sandby chose a panoramic viewpoint centred on the protruding trees and expanding across two joined sheets. This work, left unfinished, shows his watercolour technique: he applied thin coloured washes over a careful pencil underdrawing and layers of grey wash to indicate light and shadow.

Provenance

possibly Nathan Mayer Rothschild (1840-1915) [former label on backing]; as yet unidentified dealer at 64 St James's St [former label on backing]; Mrs J.B. Young [? according to Spooner 2005 exhibition catalogue]; Knoedler & Co. (New York) [according to Courtauld 1986 catalogue, though with a question mark]; Christie's (London), 16 March 1956, lot 76; purchased there by Colnaghi (London); purchased there by William Wycliffe Spooner, Ilkley (1882-1967), 23 March 1956 (£313); Spooner Bequest 1967; stolen circa 1987 but recovered shortly afterwards by an auction house in Kent

Exhibition History

A Dialogue with Nature: Romantic Landscapes from Britain and Germany, The Morgan Library, New York, 30/05/2014-07/09/2014

A Dialogue with Nature: Romantic Landscapes from Britain and Germany, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 30/01/2014-27/04/2014

British Watercolours from the Spooner Collection, Huntington Museum and Art Gallery, Los Angeles, 12/02/2005-15/05/2005 ...More

British Watercolours from the Spooner Collection, Huntington Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 12/02/2005-15/05/2005; Wordsworth Trust, Grasmere, 18/07/2005-23/10/2005; Hermitage Rooms, Somerset House, London, 16/11/2005-12/02/2006

The Northern Landscape: Flemish, Dutch and British Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 03/09/1986-30/11/1986; The Drawing Center, New York, 08/04/1986-26/07/1986

The William Spooner Collection and Bequest, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 01/04/1968-01/07/1968

Early English watercolours, City Art Gallery, Leeds, 08/10/1958-23/11/1958 ...Less

Literature

The Spooner Collection of British Watercolours, Courtauld Institute Galleries; Huntington Library; Wordsworth Trust, 2005-06
cat. no. 7
ill. on p. 87

The Northern Landscape: Flemish, Dutch and British Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1986
cat. no. 103
ill. on p. 231

The William Spooner Collection and Bequest, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1968
cat. no. 16 ...More

Troutman, Philip, 'The Evocation of Atmosphere in the English Water-colour' in Apollo, July 1968
p. 52
pl. 3

Early English watercolours, City Art Gallery, Leeds, 1958
cat. no. 85 ...Less

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: Recto, upper left: a cross above “IHS / IVILLEDARY” (matches Heawood 2971, though our chain lines are 1 mm wider – London 1766?).

Inscription: Recto: upper centre edge, graphite: “212”; left centre on sign (within drawing), grey ink: "Good Entertainment / For man and horse"; lower left edge, graphite, artist's hand?: “Old Windsor Green”; lower right edge, brown ink, signed and dated: “At Old Windsor, P.S. 1762.”. Verso (now obscured by Japanese tissue): upper left, graphite? circled: “53”; lower left, graphite, the number circled: “7 EH”; lower left, graphite, the first two dimensions crossed through: “28 ¾ / 30 ½ x 13 ½ / 129”; lower right edge, graphite, Colnaghi number: “A20426 HSA”.

Collector's mark: none.

Label: Formerly on backing, now removed and missing, recorded in file: Colnaghi "II At Old Windsor"; Royal Arms & address 64 St James's St; NM Rothschild New Court.

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