- Description
-
- Creator
- Francis Towne (1739 - 1816)
- Title(s)
-
- Walensee
- Date
- ca. 1781/09/01
- Medium
- Pencil, pen and brown ink, grey wash
- Dimensions
-
- image width 155mm,
- image length 210mm
- Inscription
-
- sheet, verso
- “Lake of Walenstadt / # / taken from Wesen / Septr 1st. 1781 / morning / Light from the right hand / No.47 / Francis Towne”
- in dark brown ink over pencil, except “taken [...] 1781” in light brown ink only and “No.47 [...] Towne” in dark brown ink only; the whole inscription upside down in relation to the drawing
- Object Type
- Monochrome wash
-
- Catalogue Number
- FT334
- Description Sources
- Examination; 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 (BP73). Judith Merivale framed it in 1935 and, as the Barton Place catalogue contains no note of its sale, she may have retained it until her death. It was on sale at Spink where it was acquired in January 1947 for £45 by Sir William Worsley, Bt (1890–1973), whose family sold it at Christie’s on 5 June 2003, lot 46.
- Associated People & Organisations
- Private Collection, 5 June 2003
- Christie's, London, London, 5 June 2003, lot 46
- Sir William Worsley (1890 - 1973), January 1947, GBP 45
- Spink & Son, London, London
- Judith Ann Merivale (1860 - 1945), Oxford, May 1915, BP73
- Maria Sophia Merivale (1853 - 1928), Oxford, May 1915, BP73
- John Herman Merivale (1779 - 1844), 1825
- James White (1744 - 1825), Exeter, 1816
- Exhibition History
- Watercolours by Francis Towne, City Art Gallery, 1950, no. 23
- Three Centuries of British Water-colours, Arts Council, 1951, no. 192
- Early English Water Colours, Leeds City Art Gallery, 8 October 1958 to 23 November 1958, no. 98
- Francis Towne, Tate Gallery; Leeds City Art Gallery, 24 June 1997 - 4 January 1998, no. 10
- Bibliography
- Adrian Bury, Francis Towne - Lone Star of Water-Colour Painting, Charles Skilton: London, 1962, p. 142
- Sir William Worsley, Early English Water-Colours at Hovingham Hall: 1963, p. 10
- William Coxe, Travels in Switzerland in a Series of Letters to William Melmouth Esq, T. Cadell: London, 1789, vol 1, pp. 40-42
Other entries in Small Sketchbook: Northern Italy, Switzerland, Savoy and Germany, August and September 1781
A View of a Bridge Fifteen Miles from Florence on the Road to Bologna
Le Rêve at the Head of Lake Como (Lago di Mezzola)
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Comment
The Walensee is a long and narrow lake north-east of the valley of Glarus. Here Towne is at the far western end of the lake at a town called Weesen. His view looks broadly east along the length of the lake towards the mountains on the northern shore. The tallest summit, at the centre of the view, is the Leistkamm, evident also in views by John Robert Cozens (fig.1, in the Huntingdon Library, Acc. no.59.55.373) and John “Warwick” Smith. Coxe called the scenery
In his 1815 letter Towne uses a “#” symbol to link one passage of text to another. It is possible, therefore, that this drawing is part of a larger panoramic work, another portion of which contains an inscription linked to this one. Towne made his sketch from a place where the entire length of the lake was visible and which has subsequently become the standard viewing point for the lake.
The dates on the two drawings of the Walensee, 1 and 4 September (FT335), make Towne’s movements difficult to determine. It is possible, though, that the lighter brown ink, with no pencil underneath, indicates that the drawing was dated some time later, possibly in error. In the typescript catalogue of the Oppé collection, FT335 was dated 2 September.2 It is much more likely, though, that Towne visited the lake twice, at the beginning and end of his excursion to Glarus. He was at the southern end of Glarus on 3 September, having already sketched all the sights of the valley; the following day, therefore, he would have been retracing his steps back through the valley towards Weesen and on (probably) to Zurich.