Study for a tree, possibly at Virginia Water

Thomas Sandby, the elder brother of Paul Sandby R.A. (1730-1809), was appointed a draftsman to the Tower of London and to the Duke of Cumberland in 1743. On his return to England, after serving in the Flanders Campaigns of 1743 and 1745 and in the Low Countries from 1746-1748, he was appointed Deputy Ranger of Windsor Great Park under the Duke, in which capacity he worked as architect and landscape gardener. At Windsor he rebuilt Cumberland Lodge and was responsible for the development of Virgina Water. He was a founder member of the Royal Academy and its first Professor of Architecture.

A watercolour of Virginia Water by Thomas Sandby, engraved by Paul Sandby, in Eight Views of Windsor Park, 1754, showing King George II and his son, The Duke of Cumberland looking at the lake is in the British Museum and The Grotto, Virginia Water, also engraved, is in the Yale Center for British Art.