Helen Allingham (1848-1926) trained at the Birmingham School of Design and the Royal Female School of Art in London (a predecessor of the Royal College of Art), establishing a successful career as a watercolourist and illustrator. Her illustrations, which appeared in publications such as The Graphic, were admired by Vincent van Gogh, while John Ruskin praised her watercolours, which focused on somewhat idealised rural subjects, especially cottages, and which show similarities of style and subject matter with those of Frederick Walker and Myles Birket Foster. Allingham was the first woman to be admitted as a full member of the Royal Watercolour Society, in 1890, and her work was shown at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

Fetching Water from the Well is typical of the idealised rural subjects on which Allingham built her reputation. Although undated, it may have been made between 1881-88, a period when Allingham lived in rural Surrey and based most of her work on landscapes and cottages in the area. It is signed in the lower right corner, with the artist’s distinctive long tails on her initials. The work showcases Allingham’s eye for detail – particularly apparent in her rendering of the flowers in the cottage garden at left and in the grass in the foreground, and the distant flock of birds in the sky – her clear, fresh palette, and her precise and skilful handling of watercolour, especially in her eschewal of any other media; no underdrawing is present and the highlights are achieved with very delicate scraping and scratching in, rather than white opaque watercolour. The use of very fine stippling throughout creates a misty atmosphere.

Newman Fine Art, by 2024; acquired there by The Spooner Charitable Trust, 2024; gift to The Courtauld, 2024

Inscription: Recto: lower right, brown watercolour, signed by the artist: H. Allingham.

Collector's mark: none.

Watermark: none.