John White Abbott

Pen and grey ink and wash, inscribed verso and dated: Kerswell Oct.3.1812 23.7 x 37 cm.; 9 ¼ x 14 ½ inches Provenance Private collection, U.K. until 2025 Kerswell is a hamlet in the Teignbridge district of Devon north-east of Exeter.

KT634 inscribed and dated 'Canonteign July 24. 1829 [?]' on the reverse, pencil, pen and brown ink and grey wash 26.9 x 37.9 cm.; 10 ½ x 14 7/8 inches Provenance: Agnew's, London. Anonymous sale, Phillips, London, 16 July 1996, lot 16; with Heather Newman, Painswick, Gloucestershire. Abbott was one of the best amateur watercolourists of the late Eighteenth Century. A surgeon and apothecary, he lived in Exeter until 1825. He exhibited paintings at the Royal Academy from 1793, receiving contemporary acclaim for the style of his work. The artist John Downman said that ‘he prefers his drawings before his paintings, as they are done with more spirit’ (J. Farington, Diary 26 June 1804; vol. VI, p. 2362). In 1825 Abbott inherited Fordland, a Devon estate, from his uncle James White, an Exeter barrister, Nonconformist and close friend of Francis Towne. Abbott became a patron and pupil of Towne’s, and his linear style shows the artist’s influence. After moving to Fordland he devoted himself to drawing.

Signed, inscribed and dated on original label attached to backboard: Dulverton.Somerset/JWA May 30 1800, pen and black ink and watercolour on wove paper 25 x 16.5 cm.; 9 3⁄4 x 6 1⁄2 inches Provenance H.L.Bradfer-Lawrence; Andrew Wyld, his sale at Christie’s, London, 10 July 2012, lot 57, where bought by the present owner Exhibited W/S Fine Art, London, Summer 2006, no. 13; W/S Fine Art, London, Summer 2009, no. 11 Abbott was one of the best amateur watercolorists of the late Eighteenth Century. A surgeon and apothecary, he lived in Exeter until 1825. He exhibited paintings at the Royal Academy from 1793, receiving contemporary acclaim for the style of his work. The artist John Downman said that ‘he prefers his drawings before his paintings, as they are done with more spirit’ (J. Farington, Diary 26 June 1804; vol. VI, p. 2362). In 1825 Abbott inherited Fordland, a Devon estate, from his uncle James White, an Exeter barrister, Nonconformist and close friend of Francis Towne. Abbott became a patron and pupil of Towne’s, and his linear style shows the artist’s influence. After moving to Fordland he devoted himself to drawing. Dulverton is in west Somerset, on the edge of Exmoor and just over the border from Devon. This view, little changed today, looks east from near the bridge over the river Barle. Harry Bradfer-Lawrence (1887-1965) was an antiquary and manuscript collector. From King’s Lynn, he became chairman of United Breweries in 1960.

Inscribed verso: Nutwell.Oct.24th 1796, pen and grey ink and watercolour over traces of pencil 11.2 x 18 cm.; 4 3/8 x 7 1/8 inches Provenance Private collection U.K. until 2024 Nutwell Court is in east Devon near Lympstone overlooking the Exe estuary. Owned by Sir Francis Henry Drake, 5th Bt. (1723-1794) the estate was planted with fig trees in 1752, cedars in 1754, and laurels and evergreen oaks in 1755. By 1756 there were grape vines, a raspberry tree, a strawberry tree, a weeping willow, plane trees, cypresses, Newfoundland firs, larch trees, and a cistus. Further planting followed with black poplars, apricot trees, orange trees, Weymouth pines, myrtle and Scotch pines.

Pen and brown and grey ink and watercolour on two sheets of laid paper, joined 25.8 x 36.7 cm.; 10 x 14 ½ inches Provenance By descent from the artist until 2015; Guy Peppiatt Ltd.; Hugo Burge (1979-2023) Abbott was one of the best amateur watercolourists of the late Eighteenth Century. A surgeon and apothecary, he lived in Exeter until 1825. He exhibited paintings at the Royal Academy from 1793, receiving contemporary acclaim for the style of his work. The artist John Downman said that ‘he prefers his drawings before his paintings, as they are done with more spirit’ (J. Farington, Diary 26 June 1804; vol. VI, p. 2362). In 1825 Abbott inherited Fordland, a Devon estate, from his uncle James White, an Exeter barrister, Nonconformist and close friend of Francis Towne. Abbott became a patron and pupil of Towne’s, and his linear style shows the artist’s influence. After moving to Fordland he devoted himself to drawing where this work is most likely to have been drawn.

Inscribed with colour notes l.r., signed with initials, inscribed and dated on reverse of original backing: Downstone Rock from Saugh Mill.Devon./JWA Septr. 21.1831,/No. 18., pen and grey ink and watercolour with gum arabic, on original washline mount 21 x 16.7 cm; 8 ¼ x 6 ½ inches Provenance : With Andrew Wyld, London; The Flannery collection, UK, and by descent until 2018. Abbott was one of the best amateur watercolourists of the late eighteenth century. An Exeter surgeon and apothecary, he lived in the city until 1825. He exhibited paintings at the Royal Academy from 1793 and received contemporary acclaim for the style of his work. The artist John Downman said that Abbott ‘prefers his drawings before his paintings, as they are done with more spirit’. 1 In 1825 Abbott inherited Fordland, a Devon estate, from his uncle James White, an Exeter barrister and non-conformist, who was a close friend of Francis Towne. Abbott became a patron and pupil of Towne’s, and his linear style shows the artist’s influence. After he moved to Fordland, Abbott devoted himself to drawing. This view appears to show Dewerstone Rock seen from Shaugh Mill, near Shaugh Prior, on Dartmoor. Shaugh Mill was used for papermaking and stood by a stream of spring water. 2 In 1790 the papermaker was Richard Howard. It appears to have been a popular spot for artists to record, and was painted by J. F. Lewis and J. M. W. Turner amongst others. Another view by Abbott entitled Downstone Rock from a different aspect is in the collection of the Provost and Fellows of Eton College. 1. Joseph Farington, The Diary of Joseph Farington, republished 1978–1984; entry for 26 June 1804; vol. VI, p. 2362. 2. A. H. Shorter and R. L. Hills, Studies on the History of Papermaking in Britain, 1993. I am grateful to April Marjoram for her comments about this view.

Inscribed verso: Near Low wood July 16/Evening light on the [?]position from the Right, signed with initials, inscribed and dated on label attached to backboard: On Winandermere [sic] near Lowwood./JWA. July 16.1791, pen and grey ink and watercolour, original hand drawn mount attached to backboard 18.6 x 23.9 cm; 7½ x 9⅜ inches Provenance: Thomas Agnew & Sons Ltd, London, no. 14336; The Flannery collection, UK, and by descent until 2018. This drawing shows Windermere near Low Wood, drawn in a gentle evening light which catches on the trees; a building on the left with a boat moored in front of it and slates stacked up at the base of the tree on the right. It seems most probable that the building is the Low Wood Inn. Nine years later, Low Wood Bay is where Dorothy Wordsworth’s Grasmere journal begins (May 14 1800. Wm & John set off into Yorkshire after dinner at 1/2 past 2 o’clock – cold pork in their pockets. I left them at the turning of the Low-wood bay under the trees…).1 From the end of the eighteenth century, the numerous slate quarries of the area had begun to increase production to supply the expanding industrial areas of the north of England. The slates would have been transported by boat, using craft like the one moored on the lake in this watercolour. John White Abbott was a surgeon and apothecary in Exeter for about twenty years. Drawing was his hobby, and he was the best-known pupil of Francis Towne (1739–1816). He exhibited oil paintings regularly from 1793 to 1805 at the Royal Academy as an honorary exhibitor (a nonprofessional artist). His uncle James White, an Exeter barrister and non-conformist, was a close friend of Towne’s and accompanied him on his Lake District tour of 1786. Abbott’s only known tour of any length outside Devon was to Scotland and the Lake District five years later. A series of eighty dated drawings from 13 June (York Minster) to 28 July (Glastonbury Abbey), record him in the Lakes during the second week of July 1791. He approached from the direction of Carlisle (7 July), spent two days around Ullswater, and was at Rydal on 10 July. After a couple of days in Grasmere and Windermere (12 July), he sketched in Borrowdale on 13 July before turning southwards, but was on Windermere again on 16 July, when the present work was drawn. Abbott travelled to Liverpool the following day and then on to the Peak District in Derbyshire, where he stayed from 21 to 23 July. Although it is not known exactly when Towne taught Abbott, it has been suggested that the two must have been in contact in the later part of the 1780s when Abbott was in his twenties, as the work Towne produced on his Lake District tour appears to have had a strong influence on Abbott’s early style, and on the work he drew during his own tour of the Lakes five years later. 2 In 1825 Abbott inherited his uncle’s fortune and his property, Fordland, in Devon, and retired from the medical profession to devote himself exclusively to his painting, although he did not exhibit at the Royal Academy after 1822. 1. Dorothy Wordsworth, The Grasmere Journals, republished 1987, p. 18. 2. T. Wilcox, ‘Francis Towne and his friends’, exhibition catalogue, 2005, no. 29.

Inscribed l.l.: Fordland/June 5/1841, pen and grey ink and wash over traces of pencil 26.5 x 21.5 cm.; 10 3/8 x 8 ½ inches Abbott was one of the best amateur watercolorists of the late eighteenth century. An Exeter surgeon and apothecary, he lived in the city until 1825. He exhibited paintings at the Royal Academy from 1793 and received contemporary acclaim for the style of his work. The artist John Downman said that ‘he prefers his drawings before his paintings, as they are done with more spirit’ (J. Farington, Diary 26 June 1804; vol. VI, p. 2362). In 1825 the artist inherited the Devon estate of Fordland from his uncle James White a barrister and non-conformist. He delighted in drawing the woodland on his estate, developing the style he learnt from Francis Towne, his drawing master, with sophisticated handling of light and shade in the depiction of trees in monochrome.

KT442 Pen and grey ink and grey washes 24.8 x 31.5 cm.; 9 ¾ x 12 3/8 inches Provenance Cyril and Shirley Fry until 2021 A surgeon and apothecary in Exeter for about twenty years, drawing was John White Abbott’s hobby, and he was the best-known pupil of Francis Towne (1739-1816). He exhibited oil paintings regularly from 1793 to 1805 at the Royal Academy as an honorary exhibitor (a non-professional artist). Peamore is an historic country estate near Exeter where White Abbott and Towne made a number of watercolours. The present work has similarities with a drawing of the quarry at Peamore dated 1796 in the collection of the British Museum (2012,7037.1). The Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, have a drawing of Peamore dating from 1802 with similar leaning trees. The Devon topographer Rev. John Swete wrote in 1789, ‘ the chief beauty of Peamore lies in the undulating form of its grounds, rising and falling in the regular alternation of hills and dales; in its woods, groves and trees and in a quarry which surrounded by a thicket of high towering oaks, beech, etc., is one of the grandest and most romantic objects in the country’ Travels in Georgian Devon: The Illustrated Journals of the Reverend John Swete, 1789–1800, edited by Todd Gray and Margery Rowe (Halsgrove, 1997), Vol. 1, p. 56. Peamore is about five miles south of Exeter and visitors and artists were permitted to explore its grounds. From 1774 until 1795 it belonged to the Coxe family until the death of Henry Hippisley Coxe when it was sold to Samuel Kekewich, in whose family it remained until 1947. In 1825 White Abbott inherited the Devon estate of Fordland from his uncle James White. He delighted in drawing the woodland on his estate, developing the style he learnt from Francis Towne his drawing master with sophisticated handling of light and shade in the depiction of trees in monochrome.

Trees Dated l.r.: July 27. 1833, pen and grey ink and wash 35 x 23.5 cm This is a charming example of White Abbott’s celebrated and ‘modern’ style of drawing, with its use of clear pen and ink outline and flat washes, derived from the style of his teacher Francis Towne. A Devonian with a particular love of trees, the artist exhibited from time to time in London as an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Arts, but he never sold any of his work. This may well be a view of Fordland, the estate in Devon not far from Exeter which he inherited from his uncle James White, the lawyer and fellow pupil of Francis Towne, in 1825. White Abbott’s work can be found in many public collections, including the British Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, the Ashmolean, the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter and the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven.