Thomas Gainsborough, R.A. (1727-1788)

From the Collection of the late LORD CLARK OF SALTWOOD, O.M., C.H., K.C.B. sold on behalf of The Saltwood Heritage Foundation

Details

Thomas Gainsborough, R.A. (1727-1788)
Study of a Cow and Sheep
black chalk heightened with white
9½ x 13¾in. (343 x 350mm.)

Provenance

Arthur Kay
Anon Sale; Christie's, 23 May 1930, lot 37 (22 gns. to Meatyard)
Sir Michael Sadler
With the Leicester Galleries
The Late Lord Clark of Saltwood, O.M., C.H., K.C.B., and thence by descent to the present owner

Literature

Mary Woodall, Gainsborough's Landscape Drawings, London, 1939, pl.284
John Hayes, The Drawings of Thomas Gainsborough, London, 1970, I, p.313 no.875; II pl.144

Exhibited

London, The Arts Council of Great Britain, Gainsborough Drawings, 1960-1, no. 73

Lot Essay

As John Hayes points out, 'the soft greasy touch and pervasive hatching are characteristic of Gainsborough's chalkwork of the late 1770s. He also points out that Gainsborough's animal drawings were normally made from life, rather than from dolls in the case of some of his figure drawings, and that they were often used for landscape compositions (op.cit., p.309)

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