William Blake (1757-1827)

Details

William Blake (1757-1827)

Wat Tyler

inscribed, probably by John Varley, 'Wat/Tyler/By W^m Blake. from/his Spectre. as in the/act of striking the Tax/Gatherer on the head./drawn Octr 30.1819.1hAM', and with the page number '66'; pencil
9½ x 7½in. (242 x 192mm.)

Provenance

John Linnell; Christie's, 15 March 1918, in lot 163 with 15 other drawings (42 gns. to Parsons)
Parsons, catalogue no. 202, June 1918, no. 453, 15 gns.
George C. Smith; sale Parke-Bernet, New York, 2 Nov. 1938, lot 101 ($100 to Rosenbach)
Morris Wolf
his son Edwin Wolf 2nd

Literature

Alexander Gilchrist, Life of William Blake, 1863, I. p. 252, and II, list of uncoloured works by William Michael Rossetti no. 35; new and enlarged edition 1880 no. 57
The Blake Collection of George C. Smith, 1927, no. 47
G.E. Bentley Jr., Blake Records, 1969, p. 264
Martin Butlin, The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake, 1981, I, p. 521 no. 737 repr. II, pl. 950
L.M.C.K. [Laura Keen], The Larger Blake-Varley Sketchbook, sale catalogue, Christie's, 21 March 1989, lot 184, separate catalogue p. 51

Exhibited

Cambridge, Mass., Fogg Museum, Works of William Blake, October-December 1930 (catalogue unnumbered)
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Works of William Blake selected from Collections in the United States, 1939 no. 213

Lot Essay

This is a counterproof from page 65 of the larger Blake-Varley sketchbook, sold in these Rooms on 21 March 1989; it was originally on the facing page 66, as in shown by the inscription. Blake and his fellow artists John Varley and John Linnell prepared several versions of many of the Visionary Heads, either in preparation for Varley's
Treatise on Zodiacal Physiognomy, 1828, or for some other project, not yet identified. For other versions of this composition see Butlin op. cit., nos 738-40, all repr.

More from British Watercolours

View All