Study of a fallen tree

Hugh Belsey dates this drawing to the early 1750s. It can be compared to a drawing in the Pierpont Morgan Library Wooded landscape with a ploughteam and a cottage dated to circa 1753-4 (see J. Hayes, The Drawings of Thomas Gainsborough, London, 1971, no. 150, pl. 40). Although this is a more full composition, the twisted tree stump in the foreground is reminiscent of the present drawing.
At this time Gainsborough crammed a lot into his drawings. He would combine many elements in a composition, drawing from studies he made from nature of burdock leaves, cattle etc. The present work is one such drawing executed from nature. Withered or pollarded trees were a particularly popular motif that he introduced in the mid-1750s 'acting as a fulcrum to the design' (J. Hayes, op.cit., p. 149).