- Description
-
- Creator
- Francis Towne (1739 - 1816)
- Title(s)
-
- Glacial Valley of Glarus
- Glaciers near Glarus, Switzerland
- Date
- 1781/09/03
- Medium
- Pencil, pen and grey ink, grey wash
- Dimensions
-
- image width 285mm,
- image length 465mm
- Inscription
-
- sheet, recto
- “snow” and “snow” (middle), “snow” (left)
- background
- Inscription
-
- sheet, verso
- “Glacieres of Glaris, Light on the right hand 2 o clock / Septr. 3 rd. 1781 / No. 27 Francis Towne”
- Object Type
- Monochrome wash
-
- Collection
-
- (L.1997.3)
- Catalogue Number
- FT369
- Description Sources
- Examination (image); Museum records
Provenance
Bequeathed by the artist in 1816 to James White of Exeter (1744–1825), on whose death it passed to Towne’s residuary legatee John Herman Merivale (1779–1844) and his successors. Merivale’s granddaughters Maria Sophia Merivale (1853–1928) and Judith Ann Merivale (1860–1945), both of Oxford, inherited the drawing in May 1915 (BP74). In 1933 Judith Merivale sold it to Squire Gallery for £8 and by 1959 it was owned by John Trevor Roberts, 2nd Lord Clwyd (1900–1987), whose descendants in 1997 lent it to the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, where it remains (L.1997.3).
- Associated People & Organisations
- Manchester Museum & the Whitworth, University of Manchester, Manchester, 1997, L.1997.3
- 2nd Baron Clwyd John Trevor Roberts (1900 - 1987)
- Squire Gallery, London, 1933, GBP 8
- Judith Ann Merivale (1860 - 1945), Oxford, May 1915, BP74
- Maria Sophia Merivale (1853 - 1928), Oxford, May 1915, BP74
- John Herman Merivale (1779 - 1844), 1825
- James White (1744 - 1825), Exeter, 1816
- Exhibition History
- Early English Water-colours from the Collection of Lord Clwyd, Leighton House, 1959, no. 95
- Bibliography
- William Coxe, Travels in Switzerland in a Series of Letters to William Melmouth Esq, T. Cadell: London, 1789, vol 1, p. 50
Other entries in C&I Honig Series: Northern Italy and Switzerland, August and September 1781
“Lago Torfi”, near Lugano
National Gallery National Gallery of Victoria
Waterfall between Chiavenna and Mount Splugen
In the Valley of the Grisons looking on Tusis
Revisions & Feedback
The website will be updated from time to time and, when changes are made, a PDF of the previous version of each page will be archived here for consultation and citation.
Please help us to improve this catalogue
If you have information, a correction or any other suggestions to improve this catalogue, please contact us.
Comment
This drawing shows the southern point of Glarus, a sight of great drama described by Coxe as
A drawing by John Robert Cozens from his 1776 tour may represent the same scenery.2 This is an early afternoon view, so probably he made it having visited nearby Pantenbruck in the morning.