Luke Elwes Waterline series, 2017

Watercolour over pencil heightened with bodycolour on thick cream paper 12.8 x 17.7 cm; 5 ⅛ x 7 inches Provenance: Frances Foster, the artist’s second wife. This delightful sketch is unusually spontaneous for the artist and shows the influence of John Ruskin. Huge skies are a frequent component of Birket Foster’s more finished watercolours.

Signed with initials in pencil l.r.: HBB, watercolour 24 x 17 cm.; 9 ½ x 6 ¾ inches Provenance Pietro Raffo, until 2022 £2200 This watercolour shows the influence of J.M.W. Turner, whose watercolour studies were copied by Brabazon.

Signed l.r.: E. Lear, pencil with watercolour and touches of gold 23 x 17.7 cm.; 9 x 7 inches Provenance (for all the bird drawings) Sir Edward Strachey, Bt., (1812-1901) and by descent to the previous owners The drawings are available individually or as a group These charming, quirky drawings are characteristic early works by Lear, dating from the late 1820s or early 1830s when he was establishing himself as an ornithological artist. They relate to a group of drawings which Lear gave to Mrs Godfrey Wentworth, who supported his employment by the Zoological Society in 1831, and whom he credited with launching him as an artist. They are imaginary, fanciful subjects drawn with not a little humour, resembling the stylised watercolours of birds painted on late eighteenth century porcelain. Robert McCracken Peck has made the interesting suggestion that Lear and his sister Ann may have been thinking of approaching ceramics companies with them (see Robert McCracken Peck, The Natural History of Edward Lear, 2016, pp. 27-9). Two surviving family albums from the late 1820s, containing a mixture of similar natural history subjects by Edward Lear and his sisters Ann and Sarah, are in the collection of the Houghton Library, Harvard University (MS Typ 55.4 and 55.27). Sir Edward Strachey was a man of letters and friend of Lear’s, who wrote an introduction to Nonsense Songs in 1895. He lived at Sutton Court, Chew Magna in Somerset and was a neighbour of Lear’s close friend Chichester Fortescue, the Liberal politician whom Lear first met in Rome in 1845.

Pen and brown ink and wash over traces of pencil on laid paper 12 x 9.7 cm.; 4 ¾ x 3 3/4 inches Framed in a dark wood moulding 31 x 29 cm.; 12 1/4 x 11 1/2 inches Provenance: Dickinson

Signed with monogram l.r., inscribed l.l.: near Calikut., watercolour heightened with touches of bodycolour Provenance Franklin Lushington (1823-1901) and thence by descent Lear was invited to India by his friend and patron Lord Northbrook who was appointed Viceroy in 1871, and his journey there was the last and longest of his life. He was overwhelmed by the colour and vitality of India and enjoyed the bustle of Viceregal life. Calicut, or present-day Kozhikode, is on the Malabar coast in Kerala and was a centre of the Indian spice trade. Edward Lear arrived there in October 1874, just as the monsoon began. He was warned about the dangers of contracting fever but stayed, despite the pouring rain, until the skies were clear enough to draw. He described the roads around the city as “of such redundant beauty one can hardly dream.” Franklin Lushington, Lear’s close friend and first owner of this drawing, was the son of Edmund Henry Lushington. He was appointed judge to the Supreme Court of Justice in the Ionian Islands in 1855 and Lear went with him to live in Corfu. They first met in Malta in 1849, where Franklin’s elder brother Henry was Chief Secretary to the government. On his death, Lear left all his papers to Lushington, who later destroyed most of them.

Watercolour over pencil 20.5 x 38 cm.; 8 1/8 x 15 inches Provenance Walter Coleridge Richmond (1852-1931), the son of the artist, by descent; With Radnorshire Fine Art Richmond continued to draw and paint landscapes throughout his successful career as a portraitist. These works remained private and stayed mainly in his family. This beautiful sketch has a directness which reflects his enjoyment of the opportunity for contemplation when drawing from nature.

Oil on paper laid down on board, inscribed on reverse of board: George Mason ARA and stamped with a Christie’s stencil 21 x 21 cm.; 8 ¼ x 8 ¼ inches Provenance The artist’s studio sale, Christie’s, 15 February 1873, lot 91, where bought by George Dunlop Leslie, RA (1835-1921); his daughter Lydia Leslie, By descent to T. L. Twidell Exhibited Stoke-on-Trent Museum & Art Gallery, George Heming Mason, 1982, cat. no 20 (ill) (lent by T.W. Twidell). Exhibited George Heming Mason, City Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent, 1 May – 12 June 1982; Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, 26 June – 31 July, The Fine Art Society, London 9 August – 4 September, cat. 20 (ill.) The sympathetic white horse is yoked in the Italian manner in this lively oil sketch and can be presumed to have been executed in Italy.

Signed, inscribed and dated l.r.: Ruins of the Temple at the furthest/point of Dondra Head. Southernmost point/of Ceylon. CFGC./Nov 7th/1873, and signed by Isabel Lloyd Hill, H Lloyd Hill, Edward Elliott, Mary Emily Elliott, and various others, numbered l.l.: 138A. watercolour and pencil 35.5 x 50.5 cm.; 14 x 19 ¾ inches This was one of many beautiful sunsets witnessed by the artist in Ceylon. Dondra is on Sri Lanka’s south coast, east of Matara.

Signed l.c.: R. Cooper, pen and brown ink and wash over pencil on laid paper partially watermarked with the Strasburg Lily 20 x 29.4 cm.; 7 7/8 x 11 5/8 inches Framed size 31 x 41 cm.; 12 1/4 x 16 1/8 inches Provenance Iolo Williams collection The artist was born in Edinburgh and trained with his father, the engraver Richard Cooper Snr (1701-1764). He moved to London in 1761, but by 1767 was on the Continent and in Italy by 1771, where he stayed until late 1775. Cooper spent most of his time in Rome and Naples and befriended Jacob More, with whom he travelled, and was later appointed as one of More’s executors. On his return to England Cooper taught drawing at Eton College and later he also taught Princess Charlotte. He produced a series of landscape prints based on his Italian work.

Oil on laid paper laid down on canvas 20.5 x 25.1 cm.; 8 1/8 x 9 7/8 inches Provenance Private collection, USA, until 2025 This charming plein air sketch was made not long after the completion of the restoration of the Arch of Titus in 1824. During the early nineteenth century the integrity of the structure was spoilt by the remains of medieval stone walls and accumulations of rubble at the sides. These were cleared in the early 1820s by Giuseppe Valadier (1762–1839) who restored the Arch to something approaching its original (and current) appearance. The artist differentiates between the original Pentelic marble and the white Travertine used for the newly carved sections of the monument. On the Via Sacra to the south-east of the Forum, the Arch of Titus was designed to glorify the memory of the emperor Titus and his official deification or consecratio. It was built shortly after the death of Titus in 81AD by his brother Domitian, who succeeded him as emperor.