- Description
-
- Creator
- Francis Towne (1739 - 1816)
- Title(s)
-
- St John’s in the Vale, looking towards Grasmere
- The Vale of St. John, in Cumberland
- The Vale of St John
- Date
- 1786
- Medium
- Pencil, pen and brown ink, watercolour
- Dimensions
-
- image width 155mm,
- image length 235mm
- Mount
- mounted by the artist
- Inscription
-
- sheet, recto, lower right
- “F.Towne. / delt 1786 No32”
- Inscription
-
- artist's mount, verso
- “The Vale of St. John in Cumberland. / looking towards Grassmere / the distance Helvellyn / Drawn at 1 o’Clock / by Francis Towne / light from the right hand”
- Object Type
- Watercolour
-
- Catalogue Number
- FT488
- Description Sources
- Sotheby's records; Bridgeman Art Library (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 (BP147) and in 1921 gave it to the widow of their nephew John William Merivale (1887–1916). It was sold by “a gentleman” at Sotheby’s on 10 December 1958, lot 77, for £260 jointly to the Fine Art Society and Agnew’s (Agnew’s no.J9592, Fine Art Society no.6709), who sold their half share to the Fine Art Society on 12 May 1959. The Fine Art Society sold it to Joseph Hawksley Elliot of Sheffield (1884–1978), whose daughter sold it at Christie’s on 14 March 1978, lot 80, for £7,500 to Agnew’s. It was sold again at Sotheby’s on 19 November 1992, lot 34, for £18,000 to Agnew’s, where it was on sale the following year, whereafter it is untraced.
- Associated People & Organisations
- Untraced
- Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, 1993
- Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, 19 November 1992, GBP 18000
- Sotheby's, London, London, 19 November 1992, lot 34
- Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, 14 March 1978, GBP 7500
- Christie's, London, London, 14 March 1978, lot 80
- Joseph Hawksley Elliot (1884 - 1978), Sheffield
- Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, 10 December 1958, GBP 260, no.J9592
Acquired jointly with the Fine Art Society Fine Art Society (no.6709). Agnew's sold their half share to the Fine Art Society on 12 May 1959. - The Fine Art Society, London, London, 10 December 1958, GBP 260, no.6709
Acquired jointly with Agnew's (no.J9592) - Sotheby's, London, London, 10 December 1958, lot 77
- John William Merivale (1887 - 1916), 1921
- Judith Ann Merivale (1860 - 1945), Oxford, May 1915, BP147
- Maria Sophia Merivale (1853 - 1928), Oxford, May 1915, BP147
- 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'
- Thirty-Ninth Exhibition of Early English Water-Colours and Drawings, Fine Art Society, 1959, no. 25
- English Watercolours and Drawings Agnew's 120th Annual Exhibition, Thomas Agnew & Sons, 1993, no. 14
- Bibliography
- Adrian Bury, Francis Towne - Lone Star of Water-Colour Painting, Charles Skilton: London, 1962, p. 30
- Timothy Wilcox, Francis Towne, Tate Publishing: London, 1997, p. 119
Other entries in Lake District, 1786
A View at Ambleside, near Sir Michael Fleming’s on the Road to Keswick
A View taken at Ambleside at the Head of Lake Windermere
Looking from Ambleside across Lake Windermere
A View near the Turnpike on the Way from Low Wood to Ambleside
Looking to the Mountains over the Head of Buttermere
A View at Low Wood, looking across the Head of Lake Windermere
Raven Crag and Part of Thirlmere
Fitzwilliam Fitzwilliam Museum
St John’s in the Vale, looking towards Grasmere
St John’s in the Vale looking towards Keswick
A View in St John’s in the Vale looking towards Keswick
On the Side of Lake Windermere, near the Turnpike
A View of Derwent Water looking towards Lodore Falls
A View from the Cascade in the Groves at Ambleside
At Ambleside coming from the Cascade in the Groves
A View of Rydal Water looking towards Rydal Hall
Elter Force, near Ambleside
National Gallery National Gallery of Victoria
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 is a view looking south on the road between Ambleside and Keswick, visible in the bottom-left corner. It was very probably drawn on 17 August, when Towne made other drawings nearby. As in the two previous drawings, here Towne was probably not yet in St John’s in the Vale itself but on a hillside a little north of Thirlmere.