Inscribed lower left: July 16. 1835
Pencil
22 by 28.5 cm., 8 ¾ by 11 ¼ in.
Provenance:
Anonymous sale, Christie’s, 20th
November 1964, lot 3;
Dr and Mrs W. Katz, by descent until
2019
Literature:
Graham Reynolds, The Later Paintings and Drawings of John Constable, 1996, p. 277,
no.35.16, ill. pl. 1001
Fittleworth Mill is on the north bank
of the river Rother just south of the village of Fittleworth, about three miles
south-east of Petworth. Constable, and his children Maria and Charles, went to
stay at Arundel in July 1835 with his friend the amateur artist and collector
George Constable (1792-1878). Constable had first visited his namesake in July
1834 and enjoying the Sussex countryside he returned the following year.
Inscribed
lower left: Epsom June 11.1816 and
inscribed verso: Beneath this stone are
deposited/the mortal remains of/James Gubbins Esqr of Epsom/who departed this
life on the/7th day of June 1814 - Aged 69. And it is/also inscribed to the
memory of/his son Captn James Gubbins/of the 13th Dragoons who was killed/in
the 18th of June 1815 - in the battle/of Waterloo in Flanders/Epsom 11th 1816
Pencil
18
by 11.2 cm., 7 by 4 ¼ in.
Provenance:
The
28th Earl of Crawford (1900-1975)
By
descent to the present owner
This
drawing dates from a previously unrecorded trip to Epsom by Constable in June
1816, presumably to see his aunt on his mother's side Mary Gubbins. The subject
of the present drawing, and the inscription on the reverse, suggests he was
also there to see the newly installed tombstone for his uncle James.
Constable's own parents had recently died, his mother in March 1815 and his
father on 14th May 1816 and Graham Reynolds points out that the design of James
Gubbins's tomb closely resembles Constable's parents' tomb in East Bergholt.
The present drawing reinforces the theory that the latter was based on the
former.
The
size of the present drawing suggests it originates from the sketchbook used by
Constable in 1815 and 1816. Graham Reynolds lists other drawings from this
sketchbook which he calls 1815 (a) (see Graham Reynolds, The Early Paintings and
Drawings of John Constable, 1996, no.257).
Constable
made two other more finished drawings of this subject in 1822 (see Graham
Reynolds, The Later Paintings and Drawings of John Constable, 1984, nos. 22.7
and 22.8).
We are grateful to Anne Lyles for her help in cataloguing this
drawing.
With
an ink off-print verso
Pencil
17.3
by 11.4 cm., 6 ¾ by 4 ½ in.
Provenance:
The
28th Earl of Crawford (1900-1975)
By
descent to the present owner
This
appears to show one of the ruined arches of the unfinished tower of East
Bergholt Church, probably the north one (see Graham Reynolds, The Early Paintings and Drawings of John
Constable, 1996, nos. 6.4, 6.6, 6.8 and 6.9) and is likely to originate
from the same sketchbook as `Tomb of James Gubbins, Epsom’ used in 1815 and
1816.
The
ink markings on the reverse of this drawing indicate that it was drawn with an
apparatus invented by Constable to record as accurately as possible what the
main outline of what he saw in front of him. He got the idea from a new edition
of Leonardo da Vinci’s Treatise on
Painting which he bought in 1796. Two of these tracing were included in the
exhibition of Constable drawings at Dulwich Picture Gallery in 1994 and the
process is described in full (see Constable
– a Master Draughtsman, exhibition catalogue, 1994, nos. 23 and 24,
p.130-133). These drawings of Flatford Lock and East Bergholt House were dated
24th November 1813 and 5th October 1814 respectively.
We are grateful to Anne Lyles for her help in cataloguing this
drawing.
9.5 by 7.5cm., 3 3/4 by 3 inches
This drawing dates from 1833 and was a preliminary study for an illustration to stanza V of Thomas Gray?s ?Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard?. Constable had been asked by his friend John Martin to design some illustrations for a new edition of Gray?s poems which he was planning. Three engravings after works by Constable appeared in the first edition published in 1834 and one more in the second edition of 1836.
Two watercolour studies for the engraving are in the
Provenance:
Anonymous sale, Sotheby?s, 18th November 1971, lot 50 (part of an album);
William Darby;
By descent until 2008
Literature:
Ian Fleming-Williams, Constable - Landscape Watercolours and Drawings, Tate Gallery, 1976, p.106, pl.77;
Leslie Parris, Ian Fleming-Williams and Conal Shields, Constable ? Paintings, Watercolours & Drawings, 1976, p.174, under no.301;
Graham Reynolds, The Later Paintings and Drawings of John Constable, 1984, no.33.19, pl. 873
Exhibited: