- Description
-
- Creator
- Francis Towne (1739 - 1816)
- Title(s)
-
- Torre Abbey, Devon, the Seat of George Cary, Esq.
- Date
- 1779
- Medium
- Pencil, pen and thin grey ink, watercolour
- Dimensions
-
- image width 340mm,
- image length 518mm
- Inscription
-
- sheet, recto, lower left
- “Francis Towne delt 1779”
- in brown ink
- Inscription
-
- sheet, verso
- “Torre Abbey, Devon, the Seat of George Cary, Esqre, 1779”
- Object Type
- Watercolour
-
- Collection
-
- (81.171.9)
- Versions
- Torre Abbey, Torquay
- Catalogue Number
- FT147
- Description Sources
- Examination; Museum records (image); Agnew’s records
Provenance
Presumably commissioned ca. 1779 by George Cary (1731–1805) of Torre Abbey, but untraced until on sale at Walker’s Galleries in 1952. Walker’s sold it on 21 July 1952 to Agnew’s (no.6959), who sold it on 6 February 1953 to Sir William Worsley, Bt (1890–1973, who on 22 April 1955 sold it back to Agnew’s (no.7968), where it was bought on 14 May 1956 by Bruce Howe for £120. In 1981 it was given anonymously to the current owner, Rhode Island School of Design (81.171.9).
- Associated People & Organisations
- Rhode Island Museum of Art, School of Design, Providence, 1981, 81.171.9
- Dr Bruce Howe, 14 May 1956, GBP 120
- Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, 22 April 1955, no.7968
- Sir William Worsley (1890 - 1973), 6 February 1953
- Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, 21 July 1952, no.6959
- Walker's Galleries, London, 1952
- [?] George Cary (1731 - 1805), Torquay, Torbay, Devon, 1779
- Exhibition History
- unidentified exhibition, Walker's Galleries, 1952, no. 106
- 80th Annual Exhibition of Water-Colour Drawings, Thomas Agnew & Sons, 1953, no. 1
- Bibliography
- Adrian Bury, Francis Towne - Lone Star of Water-Colour Painting, Charles Skilton: London, 1962, p. 69
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Comment
The preparatory sketch for this work is FT146. Museum records do not record the verso inscription.
In the right distance are openings signifying the Teign estuary and, beyond it, the Exe estuary. Presumably the town in the distance is Teignmouth. Towne has here ignored the mass of coastal land immediately east of Torre Abbey, in order to give a broad sweep of coastal view northwards.
This picture is badly faded, so that it appears more monochrome than coloured. Blue is visible in the far right shore and also in the background hills towards the left; there is perhaps some yellow in the foreground foliage also, but if so, it has almost disappeared. The edge of the water is defined simply by a line of ink that is used also to provide many details, such as a little path on the hill at the centre of the drawing, a windmill, the towers, and even the individual panes in the windows on Torre Abbey. The figures in the centre boat take the place of figures at the edge of an oil painting, with one of them gesturing towards the sea. The foreground foliage at bottom left is reminiscent of the Tan y Bwlch drawing (FT113).
Revd John Swete visited George Cary at Torre Abbey in 1793 and described the surrounding landscape:
Swete described Cary’s reputation as “an hospitable and worthy Man”, who, however, had done little to improve the landscape at Torre Abbey:
However, rather than depict those few parts of the estate that Cary had developed, Towne shows the house looking onto the part of its grounds that Swete considered the least attractive. The reason may be found in another of Swete’s judgements:
Perhaps this was also Cary’s own favourite spot in which to sit and ponder the view. Towne’s watercolour shows the abbey in its maritime setting with large dark areas evidently representing the shadows cast by passing clouds on the surface of the sea.