- Description
-
- Creator
- Francis Towne (1739 - 1816)
- Title(s)
-
- Tarr Steps, near Withypool
- Date
- 1790
- Medium
- Pencil, watercolour
- Dimensions
-
- image width 395mm,
- image length 540mm
- Mount
- mounted by the artist
- Inscription
-
- sheet, recto
- “1790”
- Inscription
-
- artist's mount, verso
- “Drawn by Francis Towne, 1790”
- Object Type
- Watercolour
-
- Versions
- Tarr Steps, near Withypool
- Catalogue Number
- FT553
- Description Sources
- Sotheby’s records; Witt Library (image)
Provenance
Commissioned by Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, Bt (1752–1794), and descended in his family until being offered for sale by Sir Richard Thomas Dyke Acland, Bt (1906–1990), at Sotheby’s on 21 November 1968, lot 32, where it did not sell (bidding reached £850). It was sold at Sotheby’s on 19 March 1981, lot 106, to Leger Galleries, whereafter it is untraced.
- Associated People & Organisations
- Untraced
- Leger Galleries, 21 November 1981
- Sotheby's, London, London, 19 March 1981, lot 106
- Sotheby's, London, London, 21 November 1968, lot 32
Bidding reached £850, but did not sell. - Sir Richard Thomas Acland (1906 - 1990), November 1968
- Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (1752 - 1794), Exwick, Exeter, 1790
- Exhibition History
- Exhibition of English Watercolours, Leger Galleries, 1981, no. 7
- Bibliography
- Paul Oppé, 'Francis Towne, Landscape Painter', The Walpole Society: London, 1920, p. 122
Other entries in Studio Watercolours, 1783–1800
Francis Towne
Much Wenlock, Shropshire, with the Ruins of the Priory Church
Much Wenlock, Shropshire, with the Ruins of the Priory Church
Francis Towne
The Wrekin, on the Road between Much Wenlock and Shrewsbury
The Wrekin, on the Road between Much Wenlock and Shrewsbury
Francis Towne
A View going from the Head of Lake Como over Mount Splugen
A View going from the Head of Lake Como over Mount Splugen
Francis Towne
The Campagna near Rome looking towards the Sabine Mountains
The Campagna near Rome looking towards the Sabine Mountains
Francis Towne
A View of Loreto with Part of the Adriatic Sea
A View of Loreto with Part of the Adriatic Sea
Francis Towne
A View near the Arco Scuro Looking towards the Villa Medici
A View near the Arco Scuro Looking towards the Villa Medici
Francis Towne
An Evening View from Mount Palatine looking towards Mount Aventine
An Evening View from Mount Palatine looking towards Mount Aventine
Francis Towne
A View on the Banks of the Tiber near Monte Milvio
A View on the Banks of the Tiber near Monte Milvio
Francis Towne
A View of the Temple of Venus looking towards the Island of Nisida
A View of the Temple of Venus looking towards the Island of Nisida
Francis Towne
Chateau de Glerolles, near Vevey on Lake Geneva
Chateau de Glerolles, near Vevey on Lake Geneva
Francis Towne
Abbey Valley Crucis, near Llangollen on the River Dee, North Wales
Abbey Valley Crucis, near Llangollen on the River Dee, North Wales
Francis Towne
A View on the Banks of the Dee above Llangollen
A View on the Banks of the Dee above Llangollen
Francis Towne
A View of the Bay of Naples with the Island of Capri
A View of the Bay of Naples with the Island of Capri
Footnotes
- 1 Paul Oppé records.
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Comment
Withycombe is a village on the north-eastern edge of Exmoor, below Croydon Hill (FT436), however Towne’s inscription more probably refers to Withypool, a mile or two north of Tarr Steps, a prehistoric stone bridge on the River Barle. This scene is a few miles north-west of Dulverton. The version of this drawing commissioned by Sir Thomas Acland, who was Warden of Exmoor, is FT553.
Oppé described this drawing thus: “Flat bridge on rough stones, one rocky river, meadow on r, hills wooded above. One figure on bridge another in meadow. Fine outline. Two grey & blue washes.”1