- Description
-
- Creator
- Francis Towne (1739 - 1816)
- Title(s)
-
- Torre Abbey, Torquay
- Date
- ca. 1775 - 1779
- Medium
- Pencil, pen and grey ink, grey wash
- Dimensions
-
- image width 318mm,
- image length 416mm
- Object Type
- Monochrome wash
-
- Catalogue Number
- FT146
- Description Sources
- Information at the Paul Mellon Centre, London
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 granddaughter Emily Harriet Buckingham (1853–1923) inherited the drawing in 1915. It was acquired on 30 September 1935, lot 29, for £1 8s. 6d. (with FT055, FT064, FT564) by Paul Oppé (1878–1957; no.2103). It was not part of the collection sold to Tate Britain by Oppé's descendants in 1996.
- Associated People & Organisations
- Emily Harriet Buckingham (1853 - 1923)
- John Herman Merivale (1779 - 1844)
- Adolph Paul Oppé (1878 - 1957)
- Private Collection
- James White (1744 - 1825)
- Exhibition History
- 76th Annual Exhibition of Water-Colour Drawings, Thomas Agnew & Sons, 1949, no. 7
- Bibliography
- Adrian Bury, Francis Towne - Lone Star of Water-Colour Painting, Charles Skilton: London, 1962, p. 148
Other entries in West Country Sketches, 1772–80
Francis Towne
A View of Exeter, taken between Exwick and Cowley Bridge
A View of Exeter, taken between Exwick and Cowley Bridge
Francis Towne
A View of Berry Pomeroy Castle within the Gateway
A View of Berry Pomeroy Castle within the Gateway
Francis Towne
A View going up from the Lake in Peamore Park
A View going up from the Lake in Peamore Park
Francis Towne
A View from the Hill above the Lake at Peamore
A View from the Hill above the Lake at Peamore
Francis Towne
A View near Exwell, looking towards Topsham
A View near Exwell, looking towards Topsham
Francis Towne
A View of the Waterfall at Lidford in the County of Devon
A View of the Waterfall at Lidford in the County of Devon
Footnotes
- 1 Donn 1965, pl.11a.
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
Torre Abbey was the seat of George Cary (1731–1805), the head of an old Devon family of Catholics. It is on the east Devon coast at the northern end of Tor Bay.1 The drawing is a preparatory work for FT147 drawn, it seems, from a natural promontory that enabled Towne to achieve the effect of looking over the water.
The hilltop chapel of St Michael’s at the far left is also visible in the drawing by Frances Giffard (FT882) dated 1791, itself almost certainly a copy of a lost work by Towne.