David Cox, RWS

KT587

Signed and dated l.l.: D. Cox/1824, watercolour over pencil

22.6 x 28.9 cm.; 8 ¾ x 11 3/8 inches

Provenance
Colnaghi (exhibited as ‘In the Wye Valley’);

Viscount Eccles (1905-1994);

Abbott and Holder; from where acquired by

Peter Roberts until 2023

Exhibited
Probably the Society of Painters in Water-Colours, 1824, no. 289, Hay Field – View near Hereford

This charming watercolour is a fine example of the fluent small-scale drawings with which Cox had commercial success in the mid to late 1820s.

He wrote to William Radclyffe that he intended to devote more time to saleable smaller works, as his larger pictures were not finding buyers (Scott Wilcox points out that his discovery of the elegant small watercolours by Bonington at this date would have provided a compelling model (See Scott Wilcox, ed., Sun, Wind, and Rain: The Art of David Cox, exhibition catalogue, Yale Centre for British Art, p. 36).

The castellated church in in middle distance may well be modelled on St Peter’s, Lugwardine. The building to the right of the church bears a passing resemblance to Sufton Court (which is not so close to the church). Cox was an artist, not a topographer, and frequently modified landscapes and landmarks to suit his artistic vision.

Viscount (David) Eccles (1905-1994) had a fine collection of 18th and 19th century British drawings. He was a politician who organised the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. After being sacked by Harold Macmillan in July 1962 he went back into business, first as a director of Courtaulds and later as chairman of West Cumberland Silk Mills.

Peter Roberts was a school master and collector of English watercolours who taught English at Oundle School until his retirement in 2007.