- Description
-
- Creator
- Francis Towne (1739 - 1816)
- Title(s)
-
- St John’s in the Vale looking towards Keswick
- The Vale of St. John, in Cumberland
- The Vale of St John
- Date
- 1786
- Medium
- Pencil, pen and brown ink, watercolour
- Dimensions
-
- image width 156mm,
- image length 235mm
- Inscription
-
- sheet, recto, lower left
- “No 33 F.Towne / delt 1786”
- Inscription
-
- sheet, verso
- “The Vale of St.John in Cumberland looking towards Keswick with Saddleback in the Extreme Distance / drawn at 2 O’Clock No.33” and signed
- Object Type
- Watercolour
-
- Catalogue Number
- FT489
- Description Sources
- Christie's 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 (BP148). On 12 April 1946 Judith Merivale’s executors sold it to Agnew’s (no.4553), where on 30 April 1946 it was bought for £45 by Joseph Hawksley Elliot of Sheffield (1884–1978), whose daughter sold it at Christie’s on 14 March 1978, lot 81, for £5,800 to Leger Galleries, who sold it that December, whereafter it is untraced.
- Associated People & Organisations
- Untraced
- Leger Galleries, London, 14 March 1978, GBP 5800
Sold in December 1978 - Christie's, London, London, 14 March 1978, lot 81
- Joseph Hawksley Elliot (1884 - 1978), Sheffield, 30 April 1946, GBP 45
- Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, 12 April 1946, no.4553
- Judith Ann Merivale (1860 - 1945), Oxford, May 1915, BP148
- Maria Sophia Merivale (1853 - 1928), Oxford, May 1915, BP148
- John Herman Merivale (1779 - 1844), 1825
- James White (1744 - 1825), Exeter, 1816
- Exhibition History
- [?] Exhibition of Original Drawings at the Gallery, No.20 Lower Brook Street, Grosvenor Square, 20 Lower Brook Street, 1805, no. 63, 64, or 65 as 'The Vale of St. John, in Cumberland', or 88 as 'The Vale of St John'
- Exhibition of Selected Watercolour Drawings by Artists of the Early English School, Thomas Agnew & Sons, 1921, no. 38
- Exhibition of Selected Watercolour Drawings by Artists of the Early English School, Thomas Agnew & Sons, 1922, no. [?] 86
- The 49th Exhibition of Selected Watercolour Drawings by Artists of the Early English School In Aid of the Manchester Royal Infirmary, Thomas Agnew & Sons, 1922, no. 100
- 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. 14
- English Watercolours, Leger Galleries, 1978, no. 6
- Bibliography
- Timothy Wilcox, Francis Towne, Tate Publishing: London, 1997, pp. 119-120
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 looking north into St John’s in the Vale, on the main road to Keswick, which is visible in the bottom-left corner. Blencathra is in the middle far distance, with Naddle Fell on the left. The view is similar to another Towne made at 5:00 pm the same day, which he numbered 36 (FT492). The foreground detailing suggests that it was amended late in life.