- Description
-
- Creator
- Francis Towne (1739 - 1816)
- Title(s)
-
- Near Rocca di Papa
- Date
- 1781
- Medium
- Pencil, pen and black and brown inks, grey wash
- Dimensions
-
- image width 314mm,
- image length 213mm
- Inscription
-
- sheet, verso
- “Near Rocca del Papa / Wood of Chestnut Trees / Francis Towne / 1781” and numbered “44”
- Object Type
- Monochrome wash
-
- Catalogue Number
- FT276
- Description Sources
- Christie's records (image); Agnew's 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 (BP16). The Barton Place catalogue states that Judith Merivale sold it to Squire Gallery in September 1934 for £6 6s., which is probably where it was acquired by Sir Michael Ernest Sadler (1861–1943), who certainly owned this drawing. On 26 October 1944 Sadler’s son Michael Thomas Harvey Sadleir (1888–1957) sold it to Agnew’s (no.4002) for £45, where it was bought on 16 January 1945 by Charles Richard Nairne Routh (1896–1976) for £70. On 23 December 1945 Routh sold it back to Agnew’s (no.4391) where it was bought on 21 January 1946 by David, Viscount Eccles (1904–1999), for £80. By 12 February 1952 it was owned by A. H. Horton, who sold it that day to Spink & Son. On 18 (Spink records) or 25 April 1952 (Agnew’s records) it was reacquired by Agnew’s (no.6871) from Spink & Son for £155. On 28 May 1952 Agnew’s sold it for £175 less commission of £1 15s. to Sir William Worsley, Bt (1890–1973), whose family sold it at Christie’s on 20 November 1984, lot 70, for £6,000 to Agnew’s (no.1043), who bought it on behalf of a private collector (see also 632), whereafter it is untraced.
- Associated People & Organisations
- Untraced
- Private Collection, 20 November 1984
- Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, 29 November 1984, GBP 6000, no.1043
- Christie's, London, London, 20 November 1984
lot 70 - Sir William Worsley (1890 - 1973), London, 28 May 1952, GBP 175
- Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, 25 April 1952, GBP 155, no.6871
- Spink & Son, London, London, 12 February 1952
- A. H. Horton
- Viscount David Eccles (1904 - 1999), London, 21 January 1946, GBP 80
- Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, 23 December 1944
no.4391 - Charles Richard Nairne Routh (1896 - 1976), London, 16 January 1945, GBP 70
- Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, 26 October 1944, GBP 45, no.4002
- Michael Thomas Harvey Sadleir (1888 - 1957)
- Sir Michael Ernest Sadler (1861 - 1943)
- Squire Gallery, London, September 1934, GBP 6.6s
- Judith Ann Merivale (1860 - 1945), Oxford, May 1915, BP16
- Maria Sophia Merivale (1853 - 1928), Oxford, May 1915, BP16
- John Herman Merivale (1779 - 1844), 1825
- James White (1744 - 1825), Exeter, 1816
- Exhibition History
- [?] 73rd Annual Exhibition of Water-Colour Drawings, Thomas Agnew & Sons, 1946, no. 66 as 'Near Rocca del Papa'
- [?] 74th Annual Exhibition of Water-Colour Drawings, Thomas Agnew & Sons, 1947, no. 50 as 'Near Rocca del Papa'
- unidentified exhibition, 1957, no. 52
- Bibliography
- Adrian Bury, Francis Towne - Lone Star of Water-Colour Painting, Charles Skilton: London, 1962, p. 143
- Sir William Worsley, Early English Water-Colours at Hovingham Hall: 1963, p. 12
Other entries in Italy Series, April to June 1781
Thirteen Miles on the Road from Rome to Tivoli
A View of Rocca di Papa with Part of the Convent
A View of the Spot where Hannibal is said to have looked at Rome
A View of the Spot from which Hannibal is said to have looked at Rome
Monte Porzio Catone from the Park of the Villa Mondragone at Frascati
Blasted Pine Tree in the Villa Mondragone, Frascati
Footnotes
- 1 Paul Oppé records.
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Comment
In an undated note describing some of David Eccles’s drawings, Oppé listed “A monochrome Trees. small ex Agnew”, which is probably this work.1