John Constable, R.A. (East Bergholt, Suffolk 1776-1837 Hampstead, London)

Dedham church, Essex

Details

John Constable, R.A. (East Bergholt, Suffolk 1776-1837 Hampstead, London)
Dedham church, Essex
inscribed and dated '22^d Sept. 1815 -Dedham' (lower left) and indistinctly inscribed in ink (verso)
pencil
6 x 3 ½ in. ( 15.2 x 9 cm.)

Provenance

C. Bostock; Sotheby's, London, 26 June 1946 (part of lot 71) (£2,000 to Agnew's).
with Agnew's, London.
where purchased by Lord Ivor Spencer-Churchill, and by descent.

Literature

G. Reynolds, The Early Paintings and Drawings of John Constable, London, 1996, p. 211, no. 15.38, pl. 1370.
I. St John, Dedham Constable Country, Suffolk Walker, 2005, pp. 4, 5, illustrated.

Sale room notice

This Lot is Withdrawn.

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Lot Essay

Reynolds records this drawing as 'untraced'. It is an exciting rediscovery of an unusual view of Dedham, a village about six miles from Constable's home in East Bergholt. The church and neighbouring vicarage are the central focus of the composition which is a different vantage point from Constable's other Dedham drawings of 1815. Other drawings depict the village and tall church tower from a distance, nestled in the landscape (see op.cit., nos. 15.44, 15.45, 15.44A, 15.46). Constable's focus on the architecture may have been inspired by the re-modelling with gothic embellishments of the vicarage (on the right of the church) in 1815.

The present sheet is from a large sketch book of laid paper, which Constable was using in 1814 and in 1815 and which measured approximately 3 ¾ x 6 ¼ (9.6 x 15.8 cm).

We are grateful to Anne Lyles for help in preparing this catalogue entry.

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