Peter de Wint View in Cumberland

Watercolour on laid paper, with exhibition label attached to backboard15 x 32.5 cm.; 6 x 12 3⁄4 inchesProvenanceMiss Bostock, companion to Miss H.H. Tatlock, the artist’s granddaughter;Christie’s, 12 September 1941, lot 29;Where purchased by Thomas Agnew & Son Ltd., London;Sold to a private collector 18 May 1942;Private collection, Wiltshire until 2023ExhibitedUsher Art Gallery Lincoln, Peter De Wint Exhibition, 1937, no. 146Horsemen can be seen in the foreground of this freely drawn, spare landscape, which exemplifies Peter de Wint’s brilliance and delicacy in the laying of washes.

Watercolour over traces of pencil on Creswick paper31 x 48.3 cm.; 12 ¼ x 19 inchesProvenanceChristie’s, London, the Artist’s sale, 27 May 1850, lot 378;Christie's London, April 25, 1995, 116;Bill Thomson, Albany Gallery until 2021De Wint first visited Shropshire in 1829-1830 and exhibited a number of Shropshire views throughout his career. He had two major patrons there, Lord Clive at Oakley Park near Ludlow, not far from the Clee Hills, and Edward Cheney of Badger Hall.

KT734Edward Lear (British 1812-1888)Sunset at Philae, EgyptInscribed and dated l.r.: Philae. Feby. 3. 1854/from Biggeh. Sunset. P 18 and extensively further inscribed with colour notes, pen and brown ink and watercolour over traces of pencil33 x 50 cm.; 13 x 19 ¾ inchesProvenanceAppleby Brothers, 27 William IV Street, Trafalgar Square, London, no. M2139;Private collection, U.K. until 2026Lear visited Philae for the second time in late January and early February 1854. He had intended to travel up the Nile with the artist Holman Hunt but left Cairo earlier than expected when the opportunity arose after Christmas 1853, having met Thomas Seddon (1821-1856) and the explorer Sir Richard Burton (1821-1890). His views of the island were often taken from a vantage point which situated it in the landscape, showing the First Cataract, the rocky barrier that divided ancient Egypt from Nubia and the Nile. Here he enjoys painting the rocks in different shades of grey as the sun goes down, its light illuminating the temple with a golden glow. Lear spent ten days exploring the island and set up camp in the Temple of Isis. Many parties of English travellers visited, and Lear entertained some of them with dinner and music on the Temple Terrace. He adored the place and wrote that it was ‘more like a real fairy island than anything else I can compare it to. It is very small, & was formerly all covered with temples, of which the ruins of 5 or 6 now only remain. The great Temple of Isis, on the terrace of which I am now writing, is so extremely wonderful that no words can give the least idea of it. The Nile is divided here into several channels, by other rocky islands, & beyond you see the desert & the great granite hills of Assouan’ (Lear in a letter to his sister Ann, 7th February 1854, quoted in V. Noakes, ‘Edward Lear’, 1988, p, 124). He made many drawings of Philae, including a similar work dated a day later, 4 February 1854, from a different vantage point which is in the Ashmolean Museum. Lear painted Philae in oils around twenty times. He wrote on his 1867 trip that ‘In no place- it seems to me, can the variety & simplicity of colours be so well studied as in Egypt; in no place are the various beauties of shadow more observable, or more interminably numerous (Diary, 25.ii.67).Bigeh is an island and archaeological site in the Nile, formerly in the First Cataract of the river and it controlled the access to ancient Upper Egypt and Nubia. It was sacred to the ancient Egyptians who believed that Osiris was buried on the island. Its sacred temple was only accessible to priests. When the construction of the Aswan Dam began in 1960, it became apparent that the ancient temples and surrounding area would be submerged and destroyed by the rising waters of the newly created Lake Nasser. An international fund-raising campaign by UNESCO led to their relocation to higher ground by 1968.

KT524Signed and dated l.c.: L Francia 1828 (?), watercolour with scratching out19.7 x 27.5 cm.;7 ¾ x 10 ¾ inchesProvenanceSotheby’s, London, 7 June 2006, lot 356;Bonhams, London, 23 September 2008, lot 40This charming view of London from Greenwich is painted from a similar vantage point to the artist’s famous self-portrait in Greenwich Park, in the collection of the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Calais (Inv.86-57-2). The towers of the hospital can be seen in the present drawing, with the dome of St Paul’s cathedral looming between them on the horizon.Francia was Bonington’s teacher whose work provides an important link between British and French watercolour painting in the early nineteenth century. A native of Calais, he left for London in 1788 after the outbreak of the French Revolution and remained until 1817. He established a practice as a drawing master in London and a reputation as a painter of marine and landscape watercolours. He attended the Monro ‘Academy’, made sketching tours, was secretary of the Brothers, a sketching club of which Girtin was a member and was also secretary of the Associated Artists in Water Colours. He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1795-1822. Francia returned to Calais in 1817. He gave Bonington his first professional lessons in watercolour in Calais as well as other artists including William Wyld, Eugène Isabey, Tesson and Collignon. British and French artists who passed through the town on a tour of the coast or en route to Paris or London would visit him.

Pen and brown ink and wash over traces of pencil on laid paper12 x 9.7 cm.; 4 ¾ x 3 3/4 inchesFramed in a dark wood moulding31 x 29 cm.; 12 1/4 x 11 1/2 inchesProvenance: Dickinson

Signed l.r.: CF Tunnicliffe, watercolour over pencil with touches of white on cream paper41 x 55 cm.; 16 1/8 x 21 5/8 inchesProvenanceThe Tryon Gallery;Private collection, UK, sold atChristies South Kensington, London, 3 November 2010, lot 58The artist was a countryman who was brought up Cheshire. After studying at the Macclesfield School of Art he won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art in London, gaining his teaching diploma and a further scholarship to study in the RCA's new Etching and Engraving School.He worked as a commercial artist and taught art at Manchester Grammar School.Tunnicliffe was a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy and in 1974 a ‘Members Exhibition’ was held there of his work.He and his wife Winifred moved from Cheshire to Angelsey in 1947 and lived at Shorelands in Malltraeth until his death.

Peter Paillou (c. 1720-1790)A pair of snipe and a kingfisher in a landscapeWatercolour over pencil on wove paper35.2 x 44 cm.; 13 ¾ x 17 ¼ inchesProvenanceSotheby’s London, 9 November 1995, lot 19; where bought by James Hall, his collection, no. 70 until 2022The artist’s life is not well documented, but he is believed to have come to Britain from France in the first half of 18th century. London based, he worked for the famous Welsh naturalist and antiquarian Thomas Pennant (1726-1798), drawing birds. His son, Peter Paillou Jr. was a miniature and portrait painter.

Oil on paper laid down on canvas15.1 x 21.6 cm.; 6 x 8 ½ inchesFrame size 25.5 x 32 cm.; 10 x 12 ½ inchesEngravedBy the artist as a lithograph on chine collé, printed by Charles Motte, 1828, plate 8Newton Fielding produced a series of lithographs of mammals which were printed by Charles Motte in 1828.The artist was the youngest son of portrait painter Nathan Theodore Fielding. From 1827 to 1830 he lived in Paris, where he ran the family engraving business, at which William Callow worked. He was closely associated with the Anglo-French circle of artists centred around Bonington and Delacroix.He collaborated with his brothers Thales and Theodore in England before returning to France where he built up an extensive teaching practice, with pupils including members of the family of King Louis- Philippe. He published a number of teaching manuals and lived in France until his death.

Two, each signed l.l.and l.r., each inscribed l.c.: F. Concolr./life and F. Ocelot.of.Albany./Life, watercolour over pencilEach approx. 25 x 17.5 cm.; 9 ¾ x 6 7/8 inchesThe artist was self-taught and specialised in drawings of animals and field sports.From a wealthy Quaker family, Howitt took up art professionally when he encountered financial difficulties and became a drawing master in Ealing.He married Thomas Rowlandson's sister Elizabeth in 1779 and was part of Rowlandson's circle together with George Morland, Henry Wigstead and J.R. Smith.

Inscribed and dated l.l.: Ponte Nomentano. June 21st. Rome, watercolour over pencil, stamped with Michael Ingram’s collector’s mark on old mount12.5 x 17.5 cm.; 4 7/8 x 6 7/8 inches, framed size 27 x 32 cm.; 10 1/2 x 12 1/2 inchesProvenanceBought in Bath by Michael Ingram, his sale at Sotheby’s 8 December 2005, lot 236, where bought for a princely collection in the Middle East until December 2024Roberts visited Rome and Naples in 1853. He greatly enjoyed Rome and produced many drawings and oil paintings as a result of his stay.The bridge was erected at the point where the via Nomentana crossed the Aniene river, a tributary of the Tiber, at the foot of Monte Sacro. Roberts drew the large travertine arch and the medieval crenelated fortification. Restored several times over the centuries, it was much painted by visiting artists.Michael Ingram inherited his passion for collecting drawings from his uncle Sir Bruce Ingram, OBE, MC (1877-1963, L. 1405a) and modelled his collector’s mark on that of his uncle.