Letter from Gainsborough to Thomas Harvey at Norwich (recto)
Letter from Gainsborough to Thomas Harvey at Norwich (verso)
Maker
(author)
1727-1788
1727-1788
Title
Letter from Gainsborough to Thomas Harvey at Norwich (recto)
Letter from Gainsborough to Thomas Harvey at Norwich (verso)
Letter from Gainsborough to Thomas Harvey at Norwich (verso)
Date of Production
(22 May) 1788
Medium
pen and brown ink on laid paper, with two extra sheets of paper added at the lower edge with the seal on the recto and address and sums on the verso
Dimensions
Height: 29.7 cm
Width: 21 cm
Width: 21 cm
Accession Number
MS.1955.WF.4599
Mode of Acquisition
Witt Fund, purchase, 1955
Credit
The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)
Location
Not currently on display
Keywords
Provenance
Witt Fund Purchase 1955
Exhibition History
long-term loan, Gainsborough's House, Sudbury, 1966?-1986
Literature
Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 23
From Gainsborough to Hitchens: A selection of paintings and drawings from the Howard Bliss Collection, Leicester Galleries, Leicester Square, January 1950
no. 10
Woodall, Mary, Gainsborough's Landscape Drawings, London 1939
no. 43
p. 23
From Gainsborough to Hitchens: A selection of paintings and drawings from the Howard Bliss Collection, Leicester Galleries, Leicester Square, January 1950
no. 10
Woodall, Mary, Gainsborough's Landscape Drawings, London 1939
no. 43
Inscriptions
Watermark: Watermark: Recto, left centre edge: "WJ" (not found in Heawood).
Inscription: Recto: full sheet, pen and brown ink, letter: "Dear Sir, / Your very obliging Letter inclosing / a Norwich Bank Bill, Value Seventy Three Pounds, / on Messrs. Vere & Williams, I acknowledge (when pd.) to be / in full for the Landscape with Cows & all demands. / I am glad Sir, that the Picture got no damage; / if ever you should find anything of a Chill come upon the / Varnish of my Pictures, owing to its being a Spirit of Wine / Varnish, take a rag, or little bit of sponge with Nut / oil, and rub it 'til the mist clears away, and then / wipe as much of it off as a few strokes with a clean / Cloth - will effect this done once or twice a year after damp weather / you will find convenient. My Swelled Neck is / got very painful indeed, but I hope is the near coming to / a Cure. How happy should I be to set out for Yarmouth" [continued on Verso]. Verso: whole sheet, pen and brown ink, continuation of letter from Recto: "and after recruiting my poor Crazy Frame, enjoy the / coasting along til I reach'd Norwich and give you a / call - God only knows what is for me, but hope is / the Pallat of Colors we all paint with in sickness. / 'tis odd how all the Childish passions hang about / one in sickness, I feel such a fondness for my first imitations / of little Dutch Landskips that I can't keep from working / an hour or two of a Day, though with a great mixture of / bodily Pain - I am so childish that I could make a Kite, / catch Gold Finches, or build little ships. / Believe me Dear Sir / with the greatest sincerity Your ever Obliged & Obedient Servant / Tho Gainsborough / P.S. I have recollected that a Stamp Red. may be proper." and added at lower left: "Pall Mall / May 22nd 1788"; lower left, on separate sheet from letter, whole sheet, pen and brown ink: "Thomas Harvey Esqr. / at Catton near / Norwich", written over the preceding address in pen and brown ink, quite large: "5" and written below that, upside down, in pen and brown ink: "18-1 / 2.2 / 20.3".
Stamp: Recto: lower right: red wax seal containing coat of arms.
Collector's mark: none.
Inscription: Recto: full sheet, pen and brown ink, letter: "Dear Sir, / Your very obliging Letter inclosing / a Norwich Bank Bill, Value Seventy Three Pounds, / on Messrs. Vere & Williams, I acknowledge (when pd.) to be / in full for the Landscape with Cows & all demands. / I am glad Sir, that the Picture got no damage; / if ever you should find anything of a Chill come upon the / Varnish of my Pictures, owing to its being a Spirit of Wine / Varnish, take a rag, or little bit of sponge with Nut / oil, and rub it 'til the mist clears away, and then / wipe as much of it off as a few strokes with a clean / Cloth - will effect this done once or twice a year after damp weather / you will find convenient. My Swelled Neck is / got very painful indeed, but I hope is the near coming to / a Cure. How happy should I be to set out for Yarmouth" [continued on Verso]. Verso: whole sheet, pen and brown ink, continuation of letter from Recto: "and after recruiting my poor Crazy Frame, enjoy the / coasting along til I reach'd Norwich and give you a / call - God only knows what is for me, but hope is / the Pallat of Colors we all paint with in sickness. / 'tis odd how all the Childish passions hang about / one in sickness, I feel such a fondness for my first imitations / of little Dutch Landskips that I can't keep from working / an hour or two of a Day, though with a great mixture of / bodily Pain - I am so childish that I could make a Kite, / catch Gold Finches, or build little ships. / Believe me Dear Sir / with the greatest sincerity Your ever Obliged & Obedient Servant / Tho Gainsborough / P.S. I have recollected that a Stamp Red. may be proper." and added at lower left: "Pall Mall / May 22nd 1788"; lower left, on separate sheet from letter, whole sheet, pen and brown ink: "Thomas Harvey Esqr. / at Catton near / Norwich", written over the preceding address in pen and brown ink, quite large: "5" and written below that, upside down, in pen and brown ink: "18-1 / 2.2 / 20.3".
Stamp: Recto: lower right: red wax seal containing coat of arms.
Collector's mark: none.
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