- Description
-
- Creator
- Francis Towne (1739 - 1816)
- Title(s)
-
- Lake Como
- Date
- 1785
- Medium
- Pencil (?), pen and grey ink, watercolour
- Dimensions
-
- image width 315mm,
- image length 490mm
- Support
- laid paper watermarked "WHATMAN"
- Mount
- mounted by the artist
- Inscription
-
- sheet, recto, lower left
- “Francis Towne delt 1785”
- Inscription
-
- artist's mount, verso
- “[. . .]drawn by Francis Towne / 1785”
- Object Type
- Watercolour
-
- Catalogue Number
- FT424
- Description Sources
- Sotheby's records (image)
Provenance
Untraced apart from its sale by “a lady” at Sotheby’s on 15 March 1984, lot 133, for £20,000 to Agnew’s.
- Associated People & Organisations
- Untraced
- Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, 15 March 1984, GBP 20000
- Sotheby's, London, London, 15 March 1984
lot 133
Other entries in Studio Watercolours, 1783–1800
Francis Towne
Much Wenlock, Shropshire, with the Ruins of the Priory Church
Much Wenlock, Shropshire, with the Ruins of the Priory Church
Francis Towne
The Wrekin, on the Road between Much Wenlock and Shrewsbury
The Wrekin, on the Road between Much Wenlock and Shrewsbury
Francis Towne
A View going from the Head of Lake Como over Mount Splugen
A View going from the Head of Lake Como over Mount Splugen
Francis Towne
The Campagna near Rome looking towards the Sabine Mountains
The Campagna near Rome looking towards the Sabine Mountains
Francis Towne
A View of Loreto with Part of the Adriatic Sea
A View of Loreto with Part of the Adriatic Sea
Francis Towne
A View near the Arco Scuro Looking towards the Villa Medici
A View near the Arco Scuro Looking towards the Villa Medici
Francis Towne
An Evening View from Mount Palatine looking towards Mount Aventine
An Evening View from Mount Palatine looking towards Mount Aventine
Francis Towne
A View on the Banks of the Tiber near Monte Milvio
A View on the Banks of the Tiber near Monte Milvio
Francis Towne
A View of the Temple of Venus looking towards the Island of Nisida
A View of the Temple of Venus looking towards the Island of Nisida
Francis Towne
Chateau de Glerolles, near Vevey on Lake Geneva
Chateau de Glerolles, near Vevey on Lake Geneva
Francis Towne
Abbey Valley Crucis, near Llangollen on the River Dee, North Wales
Abbey Valley Crucis, near Llangollen on the River Dee, North Wales
Francis Towne
A View on the Banks of the Dee above Llangollen
A View on the Banks of the Dee above Llangollen
Francis Towne
A View of the Bay of Naples with the Island of Capri
A View of the Bay of Naples with the Island of Capri
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Comment
This is a version of a lost drawing (FT351), which, from the similarity of the composition with a view of Lugano (FT346), probably once formed part of the series of large north Italian and Swiss views drawn on paper watermarked “Honig” and measuring about 280 x 470 mm.
Two later versions are dated 1787 (FT535) and 1800 (FT618). Towne’s 1805 exhibit no.128, The City and Lake of Como, was doubtless either the 1800 work or else another treatment of the same subject.