Fifty-one, twenty-two brown wash, twelve pencil, eleven black chalk and six watercolour, two on Whatman Turkey Mill paper dated 1850
Including studies of trees, cottages, landscapes, castles, rocks and yachts Various sizes, bound in an album embossed: STUDIES/BY/J.D. HARDING
This rare intact album of drawings by Harding may have been made as a learning aid for pupils. Two of the sheets are watermarked 1850, the year Harding published ?Lessons on Trees? so they may be studies relating to that publication. John Ruskin admired Harding?s work and described him as `after Turner, unquestionably the greatest master of foliage in
Provenance:
Geoffrey Roberts, King?s Nympton,
Signed lower left: JDHarding/1841
Watercolour over pencil heightened
with bodycolour
323 x 208 mm., 11 ½ x 8 in.
Provenance
Sir Thomas
Lucas of 12a Kensington Palace Gardens, his sale, Christie’s, 9th
June 1902, lot 170, bt. Vokins for 11 guineas
William
Cooke of North Bank, Muswell Hill, his sale, Christie’s, 8th June
1917, lot 30, bt. Matthews for 18 guineas
Landeck is
located in the Tyrolean Oberland in the west of Austria and is capital of the
region of the same name. It is situated at 820 metres in the valley of the Inn
River. A version of this watercolour was engraved for Harding’s Sketches at Home and Abroad, 1836, p.21.
Inscribed and dated: Castelmare/ Novr.
29. 1830
Pencil on blue paper heightened with gum arabic
25.7 by 35.9cm., 10 by 14 in.
Harding was born in Deptford, London, the son of the engraver
and drawing master John Harding (c.1777-1846). He had lessons from Samuel Prout
(see no.61), whose influence is evident in his drawings, and exhibited at the
Royal Academy from the age of 13. He was a pioneer in lithography and a
successful drawing master. His drawings, often on coloured papers, are his most
impressive works influencing the young Ruskin and Edward Lear’s early style is
also indebted to Harding’s drawings and lithographs.
He first visited Italy in 1824 and nos. 52 to 54 all
date from his Italian tour in late 1830. Castellammare is 19 miles south of
Naples on the way to Sorrento. The ninth century castle is visible on the
hillside.
This is the preliminary drawing for plate 18 in
Jenning’s Landscape Annual of 1832 and Roscoe’s The Tourist in Italy
published the same year.
Inscribed: Bridge of Vico Novr 30 /1830
Pencil on blue paper with watermark Smith and Allnutt 1828
25.4 by 35.8 cm., 10 by 14 in.
Vico Equense is located on a clifftop between Castellammare di Stabia and Sorrento on the Amalfi coast. The inscription `Bridge of Vico’ refers to the unusual grotto beneath the town.
This is the preliminary drawing for plate 20 in
Jenning’s Landscape Annual of 1832 and Roscoe’s The Tourist in Italy
published the same year.
Inscribed upper right: Sorrento/Nov 28./1830
Watercolour over pencil heightened with white on blue
paper
25.4 by 35.8 cm., 10 by 14 in.
Inscribed: Caub-/Castle of Gottenfels& Pfalz/30
Auq 1834.
Watercolour and pencil heightened with white on buff
paper
19.1 by 27.2 cm., 7 ½ by 10 ¾ in.
The minute Pfalz (or Falkenau) Island lies in the
middle of the Rhine River near Kaub, Germany. Pfalzgrafenstein Castle, on the
island, was one of the many toll castles built for the sole purpose of
generating revenue from boats travelling along the river. The Castle of
Gutenfels which towers over the landscape, was built in 1220. Along with
Pfalzgrafenstein and the fortified town on Kaub on the opposite bank, it formed
part of the toll barrier.
This on-the-spot sketch dates from his Rhine tour in the summer of 1834
Watercolour over pencil
heightened with bodycolour
22.6 by 33.2 cm., 9 by 13 ¼
in.
Provenance:
With James King, Liverpool
Engraved:
By William Finden
as a steel engraving for `Ports, Harbours, Watering Places and Coast Scenery of
Great Britain', 1842, vol. I, opp. p.133
Finden describes this view
as follows (op. cit.): `The view of Plymouth
is taken from the grounds of Mount Edgecumbe, looking across the lower part of
the Sound. About the middle distance is St. Nicholas’ Island; beyond which are
perceived the ramparts of the citadel. Between the citadel and the point of
land to the right, where several small vessels are seen, is the entrance of the
creek called the Catwater.’
black chalk heightened with white on grey paper
12.7 by 17.8cm., 5 by 7 inches
This is a preliminary sketch for an engraving by Harding based on an on-the-spot sketch by Count Leon de Laborde for Edward Finden?s Landscape illustrations of the Bible, published 1832-35. Turner produced twenty-eight illustrations for the same publication.
Provenance:
Clarissa Sophia Harding, 1843
pencil, black chalk and watercolour on blue paper
17.8 by 12.2cm., 7 by 4 3/4 inches
Provenance:
Clarissa Sophia Harding, 1843
Harding first visited
Watercolour over pencil heightened with bodycolour
360 x 516 mm., 14 x 20 ¼ in.
Exhibited:
Probably London, Society of Painters in Water-colours, 1841, no.121
With artist's studio stamp lower right and inscribed: Hampstead
Fields/march 6th 1857 -
Black chalk and stump
24.7 by 35 cm., 9 ¾ by 13 ¾ in.
Provenance:
Prince Donatus of Hohenzollern
Literature:
The Heath and Hampstead Society Newsletter, September
2006, vol. 37, no.3
In the mid nineteenth century, Hampstead Heath was significantly smaller
than it is today and was confined to the area immediately to the west of
Hampstead. Parliament Hill was added in 1888 and the Kenwood Estate in the
1920s. Between 1831 and 1871 local residents fought a long legal battle with
Sir Thomas Maryon Wilson, the owner of the heath who wanted to build houses on
it. It was finally saved for the nation in 1871.