- Description
-
- Creator
- Francis Towne (1739 - 1816)
- Title(s)
-
- Lake Windermere from Ambleside
- Date
- 1786
- Medium
- Pencil, pen and brown and grey inks, watercolour with gum
- Dimensions
-
- image width 151mm,
- image length 473mm
- Support
- two sheets
- Mount
- mounted by the artist
- Inscription
-
- sheet, recto, lower left
- “F.Towne / delt. [“1786” partly scratched out]”
- Inscription
-
- artist's mount, verso
- “No.10 / Lake of Windermere looking from Ambleside / drawn by Francis Towne / [“1786” scratched out]”
- Object Type
- Watercolour
-
- Collection
-
- (1921P60)
- Catalogue Number
- FT465
- Description Sources
- Examination; Museum records (image)
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 (BP144) and on 12 March 1921 sold it via Agnew’s (no.9929) for £52 10s. to the current owner, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (1921P60).
- Associated People & Organisations
- Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham, 12 March 1921, GBP 52.10s, 1921P60
- Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, 12 March 1921, no.9929
- Judith Ann Merivale (1860 - 1945), Oxford, May 1915, BP144
- Maria Sophia Merivale (1853 - 1928), Oxford, May 1915, BP144
- John Herman Merivale (1779 - 1844), 1825
- James White (1744 - 1825), Exeter, 1816
- Exhibition History
- Exhibition of Selected Watercolour Drawings by Artists of the Early English School, Thomas Agnew & Sons, 1921, no. 35
- Catalogue of a collection of pictures, drawings, furniture and works of art of the Empire and Regency period : select examples of Romano-British art, Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1929, no. 29
- Watercolours from the Birmingham Art Gallery, Worthing Art Gallery, 1960, no. 15
- Peintures et Aquarelles 1700-1900 du Musee de Birmingham, Musee des Beaux-Arts, Lyon, 1966, no. 123
- Two Centuries of English Painting, National Gallery, Prague; National Slovak Gallery, Bratislava, 1969, no. 134
- British Watercolours 1760-1930 from the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Arts Council of Great Britain, 1980, no. 13
- The Discovery of the Lake District, Victoria & Albert Museum, 1984, no. 83
- Bibliography
- Adrian Bury, Francis Towne - Lone Star of Water-Colour Painting, Charles Skilton: London, 1962, p. 134
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge ed. Roger Hudson, Coleridge Among the Lakes and Mountains, Folio Society: London, 1991, pp. 50-51
Other entries in Lake District, 1786
Francis Towne
A View at Ambleside, near Sir Michael Fleming’s on the Road to Keswick
A View at Ambleside, near Sir Michael Fleming’s on the Road to Keswick
Francis Towne
A View taken at Ambleside at the Head of Lake Windermere
A View taken at Ambleside at the Head of Lake Windermere
Francis Towne
Looking from Ambleside across Lake Windermere
Looking from Ambleside across Lake Windermere
Francis Towne
A View near the Turnpike on the Way from Low Wood to Ambleside
A View near the Turnpike on the Way from Low Wood to Ambleside
Francis Towne
Looking to the Mountains over the Head of Buttermere
Looking to the Mountains over the Head of Buttermere
Francis Towne
A View at Low Wood, looking across the Head of Lake Windermere
A View at Low Wood, looking across the Head of Lake Windermere
Francis Towne
Raven Crag and Part of Thirlmere
Raven Crag and Part of Thirlmere
Fitzwilliam Fitzwilliam Museum
Francis Towne
St John’s in the Vale, looking towards Grasmere
St John’s in the Vale, looking towards Grasmere
Francis Towne
St John’s in the Vale looking towards Keswick
St John’s in the Vale looking towards Keswick
Francis Towne
A View in St John’s in the Vale looking towards Keswick
A View in St John’s in the Vale looking towards Keswick
Francis Towne
On the Side of Lake Windermere, near the Turnpike
On the Side of Lake Windermere, near the Turnpike
Francis Towne
A View of Derwent Water looking towards Lodore Falls
A View of Derwent Water looking towards Lodore Falls
Francis Towne
A View from the Cascade in the Groves at Ambleside
A View from the Cascade in the Groves at Ambleside
Francis Towne
At Ambleside coming from the Cascade in the Groves
At Ambleside coming from the Cascade in the Groves
Francis Towne
A View of Rydal Water looking towards Rydal Hall
A View of Rydal Water looking towards Rydal Hall
Francis Towne
Elter Force, near Ambleside
Elter Force, near Ambleside
National Gallery National Gallery of Victoria
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Comment
This is a view of the head of Windermere, showing buildings at Waterhead in the mid-distance. The Old Man of Coniston looms prominently in the right background.