John Sell Cotman

Watercolour over traces of pencil heightened with gum arabic and stopping out 12.7 x 21.2 cm.; 5 x 8 2/8 inches Provenance Martyn Gregory Fine Art This colourful watercolour dates from 1833-4 and is based on a sketch made on the spot by Commander Robert Elliot, R.N. (1790-1849) in the early 1820s. Several professional watercolour artists copied his sketches, amongst them Thomas Shotter Boys, David Cox, William Purser, Samuel Prout and Clarkson Stanfield, and their watercolours were engraved and published in 1834-5 as Views in India, China, and on the Shores of the Red Sea. The present watercolour was not engraved, but other views made for this series by Cotman are in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and the Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston. The Elephanta Caves, on Elephanta Island off Mumbai are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, famous for their rock-architecture and carvings. This watercolour is taken from inside the most famous cave.

Watercolour over traces of pencil, inscribed in a later hand on old mount: North side of South Gate-Yarmouth, taken down in 1812. John Sell Cotman/ EXHIB 1812? 18.5 x 22.7 cm.; 7 ¼ x 8 15/16 inches Provenance Mrs Craig Henderson, her sale, Christie’s, London, 24 October 1960, (part) lot 56, bt. Spink; Mr & Mrs Giles Pilcher until 1987; With Agnew’s, London, 1992; Private collection until 2004; With W/S Fine Art; Private collection until 2018; With Guy Peppiatt Fine Art, 2019; Private collection, U.K. until 2024 Exhibited Probably Norwich Society of Artists, 1812, no. 63; Agnew’s, 119th Annual Exhibition of English Watercolours and drawings, 1992, no. 35; W/S Fine Art (Andrew Wyld), Landscape on Paper, June 2007, no. 23; Guy Peppiatt Fine Art, British Drawings and Watercolours, 2019,no. 25 Engraved Etched by Cotman as the last plate in Specimens of Norman and Gothic Architecture in the County of Norfolk, 1817 Cotman and his family moved to Yarmouth in April 1812 on the suggestion of Dawson Turner (1775-1858), his friend and patron. They lived at Bank House, Southtown, a mile from the centre of the town until 1823 when they returned to Norwich. The South Gate was destroyed later in 1812. There is a finished pencil drawing by Cotman of the subject in the Norwich Castle collection numbered 2363. https://www.museumscollections.norfolk.gov.uk/collections-object-page?id=NWHCM%20:%201932.105.25 In this atmospheric watercolour which is in exceptional condition, Cotman focuses his artistic attention on the massive body of the gatehouse, skilfully exploring the textures of the stone walls and the interplay of light, shade and colour using a restricted palette. He has deliberately focused on the gate and left the cottages in the foreground lightly washed in without adding further details. The delicately drawn masts of a couple of ships to the right of the tower allude to the proximity of the sea. The subject became well known through the popular etching produced in 1817 for Specimens of Norman and Gothic Architecture in the county of Norfolk. There is greater architectural detail in the print which is closer to the pencil drawing.

Boats off Cologne Signed and dated l.r.: .S Cotman 1832, numbered and inscribed verso: 14 Boats off Cologne, watercolour over pencil with scratching out 23.2 x 32.6 cm Provenance Baron François Adolphe Akermann, régent of the Banque de France and his wife Louise Marie née Boquet de Saint-Simon, the Chateau de Coulonges, Rahay, Sarthe, France, by descent until 2018 The Great Saint Martin church, Cologne can be seen from the Rhine. In the late 18th century the northwestern tower was taken down and Cotman’s drawing shows the church with only two towers on the east side. After the twenty year occupation of the city from 1794 by the French, the archbishopric was ended in 1801 and the cloister at Saint Martin’s disbanded in 1802. The deserted abbey was lived in by French veterans and was later demolished.The two missing towers of the church were finally rebuilt in 1875. This drawing, which has not been on the market since the time of its creation, comes from a friendship album started by Baron Akermann (1809-1890) for his wife Louise Marie Bouqet de Saint-Simon after their marriage in 1836. There was a vogue for such albums in the nineteenth century and visitors would bring a drawing or watercolour as a symbol of friendship or to commemorate a visit. The magnificent leather bound album album contained an unmounted group of drawings and watercolours by artists such as Richard Parkes Bonington, Francia, William Wyld, Decamps, Vernet, Granville, Garneray, Coignet and others. The subjects ranged from marines to genre scenes, landscapes, still lives and interiors. Baron François Adolphe Ackerman (1809-1890) was born in Paris and followed his grandfather and father into the world of finance becoming receveur général des Finances for the department of the Dordogne in 1834 at the age of twenty five. He was an able financier and rebuilt the family estate at Coulonges, Rahay, Sarthe also becoming mayor of Rahay. He became deputy governor of the Banque de France in December 1870 and régent of the Banque de France on 27 January 1871, holding the office until his death. He was painted by Winterhalter. He and his wife had two daughters one of whom, Henrietta, married vicomte Henri de Bouillé. His grand father André Joseph Bernard Ackerman (1743-1824) was receveur general des finances of Namur and his father François Joseph Ackerman (1772-1833) held the same office for the department of Sambre-et-Meuse (1808-1814) and Ardennes (1815-1833).