St. George's Gate, Canterbury

Details

PAUL SANDBY, R.A. (NOTTINGHAM 1731-1809 LONDON)
St. George's Gate, Canterbury
numbered 'N^o 2556' (verso)
pencil, pen and grey ink and watercolour on laid paper, watermark 'J.WHATMAN'
12 ¾ x 20 in. (32.3 x 50.8 cm.)

Provenance

Colonel J. Nichol; Sotheby's London, 20 July 1972, lot 59 (£5,400 to Manning Gallery).
with Manning Gallery, London.
with Agnew's, London, (103rd Annual Exhibition of Watercolours and Drawings, January-February 1976, no. 16).
Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 7 April 1992, lot 100.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 11 November 1997, lot 9, where purchased by the present owner.

Literature

A.P. Oppé, Sandby Drawings at Windsor Castle, London, 1947, p. 55, under no. 195.
T. Crombie, Buying British, 'The Apollo', March 1975, pp. 232-3, fig. 8.

Exhibited

Probably, London, Royal Academy, The Eighteenth Exhibition, 1786, no. 576.

Engraved

in aquatint, by P. Sandby, London, 1782.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Alastair Plumb Senior Specialist, Head of Sale, European Art

aplumb@christies.com +44 (0) 20 7752 3298

Lot Essay

At the time of the present watercolour, Canterbury was a large garrison city, which was always in need of fresh recruits. This is captured by Sandby as he depicts a recruiting party outside St. George's Gate trying to encourage would-be soldiers, with an officer in the foreground handing out the 'royal shilling' to an interested party.

Sandby exhibited two watercolours of Canterbury at the Royal Academy in 1786, the only time he exhibited such subjects. The other work was The Cemetery Gate at Canterbury, a view of St. Augustine's (The Tate, London, inv. N01856) and both subjects were engraved in aquatint bearing the date 1782, though this date has been thought rather early for the style of the costumes.

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