St. George's Gate, Canterbury

Details

Paul Sandby, R.A. (1730-1809)
St. George's Gate, Canterbury
numbered 'N^o 2556' (on the reverse)
pencil, pen and grey ink and watercolour, watermark J.WHATMAN
12¾ x 20 in. (32.4 x 50.8 cm.)

Provenance

Colonel J. Nichol; Sotheby's London, 20 July 1972, lot 59 (£5,400).
with Agnew's, London.
Anon. sale, Christie's London, 7 April 1992, lot 100 (£20,900).

Literature

A.P. Oppé, Sandby Drawings at Windsor Castle, London, 1947, p. 55, under no. 195.

Exhibited

London, Royal Academy, 1786, no. 576.

Engraved

In aquatint, 1782.

Lot Essay

The subject represents a recruiting party outside St. George's Gate, Canterbury. Canterbury at this time was a large garrison city, where fresh recruits were always in demand. The recruiting party in the foreground shows an officer 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, 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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